These Games We Play
by AlexandriteSky
Summary: Konoha Academy is a prestigious private school that caters to rich heirs and aristocrats from all over the nation. Sasuke's sole goal is to climb to the top so that he can clear his brother's name, but chaos ensues when he's assigned the same room as the only "poor kid" in the school: Naruto Uzumaki. SasuxNaru
1. Chapter 1

Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto

Warning: This fic is yaoi, meaning boy/boy. Don't like? Don't read! Flames will be laughed at and then posted for all to see so that it can brighten everybody else's day as well.

AlexandriteSky: I really shouldn't be posting any new stories while I'm still working on my other one, but this fic has been collecting dust in my computer for a few years now so I thought I'd post it!

* * *

_Orientation._

The current bane of Naruto's life.

The rough looking blonde yawned widely, ignoring the scathing looks he received as he slumped backwards in his seat. The boy on the stage had been droning on for roughly twenty minutes now, but to Naruto's tired brain his unstimulating speech might as well have been going on for years. Even though the boy's tone was amicable, none of his emotions reached his eyes; his words were clearly dictated and dispassionate, and he spoke with an air of entitled superiority.

Naruto vaguely remembered that the boy had been introduced as the student body president upon going on stage - not surprising, considering that he had the personality of an exceptionally dull slab of concrete.

The student council president was a stiff looking boy with silver hair and abnormally round glasses, and though he seemed to have all the traits of an obedient, hard-working student, there was something about the way he smiled that sent chills down people's backs. A wave of apprehension had swept through the rows of seated students upon his entrance on the stage, and now that his speech was drawing to a close people were beginning to relax.

The unusual tension in the room was thick and unsettling.

_Respect?_ Naruto wondered.

_It seemed like more than just that. _

Not that it had anything to do with him.

"And finally, I want to give all new students a warm welcome, and I urge you all to come to the student council with any problems you may have, no matter how big or small." The boy concluded at long last, stepping backwards gracefully as the headmaster took over to close the assembly.

"Fuckin' finally." Somebody muttered quietly from Naruto's side.

The auditorium erupted into cheers as the headmaster took her place at the podium, but Naruto chose to peek out at the boy next to him curiously instead. The boy's appearance wasn't the only thing unique about him, though it certainly played a huge role in Naruto's interest; red fangs seemed to be tattooed onto either side of his cheeks, and if they hadn't been in the middle of the opening ceremony, Naruto would have whistled his appreciation.

The other thing that was offsetting was that the boy's obvious hostility– he was glaring at the stage as if it were his mortal enemy, and Naruto swore he could see fangs poking out from where his front teeth bit his bottom lip. He had blatantly refused to clap when the student council president had finished his speech, which wouldn't have been strange had he not been paying such close attention the entire time.

Never one for restraint, Naruto decided to humor his own curiosity.

"What, no appreciation for the class prez?" he asked softly, allowing his voice to become overpowered by the woman currently speaking so that he wouldn't be overheard. The boy jumped a little in surprise at the sudden initiation of conversation, and he looked around himself nervously before leaning a bit closer so that he could whisper in Naruto's ear.

"You don't know?" he hissed, not half as discrete as he probably hoped to be.

Naruto raised an eyebrow at him. "Know what?" he replied with another yawn. It was impossibly difficult to stay awake during such boring formalities, and large crowds have never been his favorite past time.

"This school has a stellar reputation, but it's said that shady things happen during the student council elections." The boy whispered loudly. "All of the money-grubbing, ambitious aristocrats come out to play, and they'll stop at nothing to win –one of the candidates last year mysteriously went missing, only to be found a week later locked in a warehouse living off of dog food and sewer water. The bastard sitting on stage was undoubtedly behind the entire thing, but even private detectives were unable to find anything that could trace the incident back to him and all charges were dropped."

Naruto wasn't surprised to find out that a prestigious school like Konoha Academy had people willing to tear each other to shreds in order to reach the top of the food chain.

"Stories can be exaggerated…" he suggested, but the other boy instantly shook his head in reply.

"The other guy was a close business associate of my family." He answered angrily, shooting another glare at the boy on the stage. "And that's the guy who cheated him out of a fair election."

"Hm…" Naruto hummed, surveying the stern silver-haired teen with a fresh perspective.

The boy stared at him quizzically. "You seriously applied to this school without hearing any of the rumors?" he questioned with astonishment.

"Guess so." Naruto shrugged, not willing to go into the details of his admission. "Lots of other people seem to like him enough though," he pointed out, motioning towards the other students who seemed be drinking in his every word with faces brimming with admiration.

"The power of fear and money. It's an ugly combination." The other boy snorted, to which Naruto smiled.

"Amen." He agreed, though cerulean eyes were much colder than the grin plastered on his face.

"So, what's your name?" the boy asked as the new speaker droned on monotonously in the background. "You don't seem like the normal pampered princess I expected this school to be overrun with. It's obvious that you're a first year, just like me."

Naruto accepted the hand that awkwardly jutted out in his direction as he grinned back at the outspoken boy. He could tell that the two of them would get along – the other boy gave off the feeling of trouble and adventure, all which were traits he could _definitely _relate to.

"The name's Naruto Uzumaki." He introduced himself grandly, shaking the boy's hand and then slapping it in greeting. "What about you, my fine red-fanged friend?"

"Right now, you are in the glorious presence of Kiba Inuzuka." The other boy announced proudly. "Didn't think I'd find somebody else with a soul in a school like this. I'm pretty relieved – our meeting has given me hope for the coming school year."

"Well said, Kiba." Naruto began with a toothy grin. "Think we can shake things up a bit in this hole?"

"_You there! Stop your chattering this instance!"_ a teacher hissed from the side. The man was dressed as if he were attending an extremely formal event, and his attire consisted of a wrinkle-free suit complimented with shiny black shoes and a navy blue tie. Though he wore sunglasses indoors, there was no doubt that he was a fervent enforcer of the rules, and Naruto could practically feel his irritation radiating from five seats away as he and Kiba shared a chuckle.

"Somehow, I think we'll manage." Kiba laughed, both them ignoring the constant warnings that were being hissed at them from the side as they returned to their introductions.

The two continued to converse until the end of the ceremony, and both of them rode the wave of students exiting so that they could slip past the teacher unnoticed (Naruto, however, stopped to blow him a kiss before Kiba dragged him away). After realizing with much joy that they were in the same dorm, both boys traversed past numerous buildings and courtyards until they reached their destination, a dreary looking building composed of rows of solid brick. Vines sprawled down the walls lazily, accompanying the splotches of mold that grew sporadically throughout. Its front doors were wooden with metal bars and looked as if they hadn't been scrubbed for decades.

"She's a beaut." Kiba commented, rolling his eyes.

"I really didn't feel welcome until now." Naruto agreed, patting his new friend on the shoulder. "I thought a school like this would have gold-plated wallpaper and diamond chandeliers."

"Barf." Kiba made a face. "Glad we're on the other end of the extreme."

The blonde laughed. "Not much of a neat-freak, are you?"

Kiba shot him a wolfish grin. "Home's not home unless it's broken in. Stains and chipping paint – the whole shebang."

Cerulean eyes sparkled with amusement. "Touché."

They both walked through the creaking door, only to be greeted by a man behind the front desk who smiled at them with warm brown eyes. Naruto's gaze was instantly drawn to the large unmistakable scar that obstructed the other man's nose bridge, which was wide in the middle and tapered off on either end. He wondered under what circumstances such a gentle-looking man could have gotten such a ghastly wound from, though outwardly he maintained a casual smile.

He had his own pair of scars, after all. Three lines fanned out on each of his cheeks, giving him a bit of a feral appearance whenever he grew angry.

"My name is Iruka Umino, and I am the acting dorm leader here at Sage Hall." The man greeted them with a kind smile. "If you have any problems whatsoever, feel free to contact me no matter what time of day it is. If each of you can come up to me individually, I'll hand you your first-year booklets and room assignment."

Naruto and Kiba glanced at each other for a moment before Naruto took a step back and motioned forward. "Ladies first," he stated graciously, earning him a light smack to the head. He watched as Kiba told Iruka his full name and student ID, receiving a large blue folder and a set of keys in return. Afterwards, he stepped up for his turn, where Iruka observed his face closely before leaning backwards, satisfied with whatever he was looking for.

"What's your name?" he asked, sifting through the box of folders in front of him.

"Naruto Uzuamki." The blonde replied uncomfortably, staring pointedly in front of him. "Student number 1005592479."

"Welcome, Naruto." Iruka beamed at him, sliding across another blue folder and a set of keys. "I've given you your dorm key and your mail key, along with any information you might need about the policies we have here at Konoha Academy. Your room is 112, down the hallway to my right – your roommate has already checked in. Your bags should have already been delivered as well; you can pick them up over to my left."

"Thanks." Naruto replied awkwardly, grabbing both articles presented to him, though his heart was sinking at the mention of sharing his room. He already knew that there would be two occupants to one room, as that was the only available option for students to choose, but he had hoped that his future roommate would die a suspicious death before being able to come to the school.

Obviously, that had not happened.

"I'm in room 139, so I'm just a bit away." Kiba revealed once Naruto rejoined him, showing the blonde his key. "My roommate isn't here yet though, so you 're the only one who gets the honor of a warm welcome."

"Greaatt." Naruto drew out with a sigh as they headed towards the corner Iruka had indicated before that held all of their bags. Kiba dove into the pile much like a dog who had found an assortment of new toys, while Naruto found it ridiculously easy to find his seeing that it was the only bright orange article in the pile. He pulled out his duffle bag without little effort, with Kiba laboriously dragging three away a few feet to his side.

"That's all you have?" the wolf-boy asked, panting as he eyed the single small bag Naruto carried and then glanced at the three overstuffed bags he could barely carry. "Thanks." He grunted as Naruto relieved him of one of his bags.

"Didn't really see the need to bring much stuff." Naruto shrugged, shouldering both bags on one shoulder. "I figured I'd give the school life a trial run before deciding what else I'd need to bring."

"Wish I had had your insight." Kiba groaned, closely following Naruto as they trudged towards their new rooms. Naruto stopped in front of his with a strong sense of foreboding, and he turned towards Kiba who was only a few feet away.

"Think you can manage getting to your room on your own?" the blonde asked, holding out Kiba's bag.

"I could carry this shit across the world if I had to." Kiba sniffed, grabbing the bag from Naruto's hand. "I brought everything that was important to me, just in case my siblings decide to break them when I'm not at home."

Hearing that Kiba had a chaotic family really didn't come as a surprise.

"I can tell." Naruto commented dryly, watching as his friend began his slow journey through the hallway.

"I'll catch you later dude!" Kiba called over his shoulder. Naruto saluted lazily in reply before turning to his door, his brows furrowed at he glared at the plain sign that had his room number printed on it with bold black letters.

_There's no point in delaying the inevitable_, the blonde thought with a sigh as he unlocked the door and ceremoniously swung it open.

Inside sat a lone raven-haired male, whose complexion was so fair that any girl would have gone crazy in jealousy. He had dark onyx eyes and a perfectly sculpted face which was accented by long dark eyelashes that shadowed ivory cheeks. For a moment, Naruto could do nothing but stare, almost disgusted that something so beautiful could have been created. It was as if all of the faults of mankind had been handed out to all the insignificant people so that this boy could be blessed with none.

Naruto hated him already.

Half of the room was already decorated with a distinct navy blue color, and the line of duct tape dividing the room in half on the floor did not go unnoticed by the blonde. He could already tell that the boy was a fanatical nut about personal space, seeing that most of his possessions had a sticker on them bearing his name: Sasuke Uchiha.

"Your name?" the boy spoke up at last, his voice a bit deeper than Naruto had expected it to be. Naruto moved to the left side of the room that still remained untouched, taking great care to stomp on the duct tape line as he did so.

"Naruto Uzumaki." He replied shortly, foreseeing that any polite formalities would only be an annoyance to his new roommate. Sasuke's eyes narrowed as he spoke, and he seemed to be contemplating something deeply while Naruto threw his bag onto his new bed with a light thud.

Shit, the blonde thought inwardly. He forgot to bring pillows.

"Uzumaki…I've never heard of that surname." The raven-haired male mused coldly.

"Well now you have." Naruto responded, unzipping his bag and pulling out bright orange sheets. He felt almost triumphant as he stretched them across his bed, happy that his room would have some color other than the atrocious navy blue his new roommate favored.

The raven-haired boy snorted, and Naruto didn't miss the way the boy eyed his sheets with utmost disgust. "How did you even get into this school?" he questioned. "Your family must have _some_ financial backing."

Konoha Academy was the nation's most prestigious private school, which was synonymous to it being a breeding ground for spoiled aristocrats – Naruto knew he should have expected such a question but he bristled with annoyance all the same.

"I got a _loan_." He answered, barely holding onto his temper. "Those things _do_ still exist, you know."

Something changed within the other boy's expression, and Naruto could practically feel his diminishing interest as the boy turned around in his bed. The blonde could barely make out a few mumbles, which he deciphered out to be grumbles of being paired up with "the poor kid".

"You don't have to be such a bastard about it." Naruto commented hotly, placing a few miscellaneous items around the room and them climbing onto his bed, which was elevated like a bunk so that a desk could fit underneath it. "Why is money so important, anyways?"

"All I hear are the uneducated ramblings of an idiot." The raven-haired boy replied monotonously. "Don't talk to me anymore – I can feel my brain cells degenerating."

Naruto's jaw dropped. "Y-you're such a fucking asshole!"

His outcry of rage was promptly disregarded as Sasuke pointedly inserted earphones with his back still facing the rest of the room.

If it would have done any good, Naruto would have shrieked in anger. Instead, he simply gritted his teeth and followed the jerk's example by turning over, his head feeling terribly unsupported as he rested it against his arm.

He needed a goddamn pillow.

Oh, and a new roommate.

* * *

AlexandriteSky: Thanks for reading, and please review and let me know whether or not I should post additional chapters! Sorry for any mistakes, no time to edit!


	2. Chapter 2

AlexandriteSky: There wasn't really a big response to this fic so I'll give it a few more chapters before removing it. A big thanks to those who reviewed and/or favorited/followed!

* * *

"He really said that?" Kiba asked incredulously the next day at breakfast.

"Yes!" Naruto exclaimed, stabbing his scrambled eggs hatefully as he imagined them to be Sasuke's face.

"I just can't believe you got stuck with the Uchiha…bad luck, my friend." The other boy sighed, shaking his head and cramming a spoon full of tater tots into his mouth.

Naruto eyed him questioningly. "You know him?"

Kiba stopped mid-chew. "You haven't heard the rumors?" he exclaimed, smiling apologetically at the tiny bits of food that spewed out as his spoke.

"I think we should just assume I don't know anything at this point." Naruto grumbled, huffing a bit as he crossed his arms and looked away.

"Aw, you're just like a newborn chick!" Kiba exclaimed, grinning widely. "Don't worry, I'll take you under my wing." He cooed, laughing as Naruto smacked his hand away with a scowl.

"I've got one condescending bastard already on my case, don't add to it." He sighed miserably, burying his face into his hands.

Kiba patted his back sympathetically. "I really don't think you have to take it to heart though." He stated in a more serious tone. "Uchiha's a special case, even at this school."

Naruto peeked out at him curiously. "How so?"

The other boy looked a bit hesitant, and his voice grew quieter as he kept a careful look out for the subject in question. "Rumor has it that every single one of his family members attended and graduated from Konoha Academy." He whispered. "His name has billions of dollars behind it, but get this – when he was seven, his entire family was massacred, leaving only him and his older brother as survivors. His brother's locked away as the suspect for the entire thing, so the boy was stuck with the entire family fortune and not a single soul to share it with. Pretty insane, right?"

"Shit!" Naruto whispered, drawing back a bit.

"Yeah." Kiba agreed, shaking his head. "It's known as the Red Fan incident – people don't like talking about it, because they consider it the ultimate sign of bad luck or somethin'."

Naruto took a moment to digest what he had just heard, and though Sasuke was still a patronizing asshole, the blonde had to admit he felt bad for him. The blonde was no genius in psychology, but he was pretty sure something like that didn't help cultivate normal social interactions; perhaps it wasn't entirely the jerk's fault.

Still, a jerk was a jerk.

"Speaking of which, you've got a pretty bad reputation yourself, Naruto." Kiba continued, his voice returning to its normal level. "I heard some chicks talking about you last night – not in a good way, either."

Naruto groaned. "Just letting you know, probably only half of its true." He warned his friend, who shrugged in reply.

"So it's not true that you got kicked out of basically every school in the country, and ultimately had to come here as a last resort through some mysterious connection? And that you have tons of marks on your record for fighting and beating up numerous students/teachers?" the other boy asked excitedly, eyes glittering.

The blonde paused.

"Oh that's all true." He admitted sheepishly, stuffing his hands into his pockets. _Those rumors had been pretty mild compared to ones that had been spread before._ "But I don't really want to go into any of it." He warned, when Kiba's mouth instantly opened again to ask another question. "It's true that I don't have the most stellar history, but I'm here to stay – I got some shit straightened out, and now I just want to lead a good student life with all of its wretched drama and debauchery."

For a moment, Kiba merely stared at him, and Naruto wondered if he had lost the first friend he had made at the school so far. A moment later he felt silly for even thinking so as Kiba assaulted him viciously with a knuckle sandwich to the head.

"I think you're cool, dude." The boy smiled wolfishly. "And I have a feeling you're going to bring a bit of flavor to this school. You're better than my roommate at least – did I tell you that he walked in, asked why I had tattoos on face, and promptly went to sleep? He wasn't even awake long enough for me to find out his name!"

Naruto could only laugh at Kiba's indignant expression. "Why _do_ you have those tattoos, though?" he asked, suddenly reminded by the boy's rant. "I've been meaning to ask, but things have been pretty hectic so far."

As if sensing it was his time to shine, Kiba's chest puffed out proudly as he smiled his wolfish grin. "My family has had an affiliation with wolves for generations – we keep them as pets." He bragged. "I got these so I could be like them and have a pair of fangs of my own. Sick, right?"

"Undoubtedly." Naruto agreed, secretly wondering what kind of job Kiba would be able to apply for in the future. It seemed like they wouldn't help Kiba give off the best first impression, but then again, it was none of Naruto's business. "You should show me them sometime." He added with a wink.

His friend responded by nodding enthusiastically. "Yeah, you'll love them!" he gushed, waving a piece of pancake around on his fork. "Akamaru is my baby, I've been raising him since he was a pup. Then there's Miku, Taro, Yami-"

"There's no way I'm remembering all of their names, Kiba." The blonde interrupted with a sweat-drop.

Kiba blinked at him. "There's only twenty-eight of them."

"…" Naruto returned to eating his breakfast.

"Shit, it's already ten!?" Kiba exclaimed, glancing at the lock set on the side of the cafeteria. "I'm going to be late to my first class!"

"Goddamn." Naruto groaned, coming to the same realization. After saying their goodbyes he and Kiba hurriedly put their trays away and ran back to their rooms, Naruto distantly noting that Sasuke was already gone as he grabbed his stuff and exited the room, locking the door behind him. He glanced at his schedule and the map adjacent to it, breathing a sigh of relief when he saw that his first class was in a nearby building.

His cell phone glared out the numbers 10:14 as Naruto arrived at his classroom, but his relief was quickly replaced by horror as his eyes swept over his new classroom.

The first thing he noticed was that Sasuke was in his class – the next thing he noticed was that the only open seat remaining was right next to him. Resisting the urge to claw out his hair, Naruto took the cursed seat, gritting his teeth when the raven-haired boy glanced at him and looked away with a disdainful grimace.

_Not like I want to be here either, jackass._ Naruto thought with irritation.

"Don't get here at the last minute next time, dobe." The raven-haired boy hissed at him. "I don't want to spend a second longer with you than I have to."

"I'm a late sleeper, it's not my fault!" Naruto snarled back, remembering that Sasuke had been gone by the time he had woken up that morning. "My alarm clock broke the day of orientation, so I've been using my cell phone."

His alarm clock broke because it had been chucked mercilessly against a wall, but Naruto wisely kept this bit of information to himself.

"Hn." The other boy grunted, looking away.

_Bastard_, Naruto thought grumpily, pulling out his textbook and laying it down his desk. The professor had yet to arrive and he was already bored out of his mind. As he was waiting, his eyes were drawn to a glint of light that shone off the corner of Sasuke's desk; upon closer inspection, he found it to be diamond encrusted charm that was strung on a leather strap. The charm was mounted with gold, which formed the outline of a fan; the symbol of the Uchiha clan, from what Naruto understood.

"You never struck me as the flashy type, roomie." The blonde commented with interest, leaning closer so that he could get a better look at the small token. Sasuke snatched it away with a snarl, his eyes spelling pure murder as he tucked the charm away in his pocket.

"Don't you _dare_ touch that." The raven-haired boy growled threateningly. "Or else I'll cut your hands off."

Naruto's brow rose at Sasuke's excessive show of attachment to the trinket he had placed in his pocket. "What, did a lady give that to you?" he teased lightheartedly.

"This is the first and only thing my parents ever gave me." Sasuke hissed. "Don't taint it with your stupidity."

The blonde fell silent, feeling a confusing mixture of remorse for bringing the topic up and anger at being insulted yet again. Though his roommate had established himself as a PMSing drama queen, he wasn't low enough to enjoy making jabs about the other boy's past.

Some things were meant to be preserved for a lifetime. Memories were one of those things; _most_ of them, anyways.

After a few moments Naruto became aware that Sasuke and he had become the center of attention, and the stares they were receiving were horribly indiscrete. All of the students around them were gazing blatantly at them, and Naruto's ears tickled as he overheard bits and pieces of the things they were beginning to whisper.

"_That's Sasuke Uchiha, isn't it…?"_

"_It takes a lot of bravery to come to school normally after…"_

"_Do you think that he's still…you know…"_

"_I heard that his brother was the one who…"_

At first, Naruto was relieved to hear that all rumors about him had been completely overshadowed by the ones about his roommate, but irritation still bubbled within him as the whispers consistently increased in volume. Sasuke was pointedly ignoring them all, instead opting to read the book that he had brought along with him, but Naruto didn't have the capacity to tolerate them any longer. They were just too _obvious_ with their pity and their skeptical whispers, and it was driving even him insane.

Those whispers were usually about him, after all.

"I don't get why you're all talking about _him_, when there are far better looking men in this room." He snapped at last, rising to his feet. "Like me, for instance." He finished, winking at the girl next to him who drew back in disgust. "For you, you can talk about me _all_ you want." He crooned, only to have her friends giggle while she rolled her eyes and turned away.

After that, people seemed to remember what it meant to mind their own business, and Naruto sat back down with a sigh. Sasuke hadn't looked up from his book a single time, but Naruto could see that he was eyeing him from the corner of his eye.

He flicked him off in reply, wanting him to know that he had done it for himself, and not for him. The last thing Naruto could be described as was altruistic – he merely acted upon his own desires and usually didn't care how it would affect those around him. It seemed as those the raven-haired boy got the hint, for he scowled in disgust at the obscene gesture and went back to giving his sole attention to the book he was reading.

The message was clear: _I refuse to talk to you_.

That suited Naruto just fine, and he felt pretty comfortable by the time the teacher rushed in, apologizing for his tardiness, blaming it on some cat that had stolen his groceries and eaten his keys.

* * *

The next day passed uneventfully, but on the day after, Naruto was rudely awoken by an alarm clock he swore he never set at 9:15 in the morning. After finding the source and quickly pacifying it, Naruto remained in a bleary state of confusion before finding the sticky note that attached to it. Sasuke's handwriting was neat without any superfluous flourishes, and the blonde found that it suited his personality well.

_Don't sit next to me this time_.

Naruto couldn't do anything but laugh as he tossed the note aside and looked at his new alarm clock, his nose scrunching when he saw that it was in the usual shade of navy blue that marred the rest of Sasuke's belongings.

He made a mental note to buy some orange paint after class and trudged out of his room to grab some breakfast.

* * *

AlexandriteSky: Thanks for reading, and please leave a review letting me know what you think!


	3. Chapter 3

AlexandriteSky: Thank you so much to all those reviewed/responded! You guys are the best :)

* * *

"_**The way you are now, you're nothing. If you hope to ever catch me, you'll have to climb to the top – only then will you be able to find me"**_

"_**Live, and contemplate the insignificance of your existence."**_

"Whoah!" Naruto exclaimed as Sasuke jerked upwards suddenly, their heads colliding painfully and sending the blonde sprawling to the ground.

"What the _fuck_ were you doing?" the raven-haired boy demanded harshly as the blonde clutched his forehead with a pained expression.

"You were having a nightmare, I think." The blonde replied, wincing. "I was trying to be a nice guy and wake you up."

_Red eyes, swirling – spiraling into madness with the color of fresh blood, they bore into his own_

The dull jabs of pain that echoed hollowly in his head resounded louder and louder, increasing in amplitude until it became a heavy roar.

"Get the fuck out." Sasuke hissed, his vision flashing red.

The blonde stared up at him with a blank expression. "What?" he asked dumbly.

"Get _out_!" Sasuke snarled, overwhelmed by blinding anger.

"Sasuke, it's fucking four in the morning , where would I even-"

"GET OUT!" the raven-haired boy screamed, feeling himself slowly slip into insanity as the blonde in front of him gaped openly. A few seconds later the blonde wordlessly got up and left the room, leaving Sasuke panting heavily for breath as he slumped against the wall.

This was why he had specifically requested not to have a roommate, which had quickly been turn down by the school board. The Academy apparently did not support any single-person rooms, and though Sasuke offered to finance building one specifically for himself, it would not have been finished by the start of the school year.

When he had finally come to terms with the fact that he would, indeed, be rooming with somebody else for the year, Sasuke had come to see how it could be an advantage. Because he was planning to run for student council president, he would need strong support from a source other than his own fortune in order to brave the cruel methods that were used dispose of opponents during the elections. Sasuke had never been good at interacting with other people, but he figured that some kind of bond would have been forced to form between him and his roommate which could have helped him in the future.

However, he could not have been more disappointed. Not only was his roommate an idiot, but he also managed to be the one single person in the entire school with no political clout whatsoever – the blonde was useless to his cause and could bring nothing to the table. He was probably unable to comprehend Sasuke's obsession with money, but it was necessary; Sasuke _needed_ an ally who could withstand the antics of the wealthy.

At this point, he couldn't get the blonde involved. It would be as easy as taking out the trash to get the kid dismissed from the school; Sasuke had heard all of the rumors about him, many which had been established to be true. Though the blonde seemed to be able to take care of himself physically, he was grossly underestimating what measures aristocrats would undergo to get what they wanted. The school was probably also less than determined to keep him enrolled, and with a small donation from the other side, Sasuke doubted the blonde would last longer than the few minutes it took for him to pack his bags and leave..

The student council elections were vital for his revenge; becoming president was pretty much equivalent to establishing your future, earning you the highest connections possible with people you would normally have to wait ten or twenty years to meet.

He needed these connections in order to catch up to the true culprit behind the massacre of his family, and there was nothing in the entire world Sasuke was more determined to do.

_His brother would be redeemed, and his family would be avenged._

Sasuke sat alone in the dark with his blanket over his head, unable to chase away the echoes of ghosts that haunted his dreams. They cackled at him with taunting sneers but the raven-haired boy remained immobile, knuckles white as he fought to regain his composure.

After half an hour had passed a knock resonated on the door, and Sasuke carefully kneaded the middle of his brow as he fought off the gnawing anxiety inside of him.

"Am I allowed back into my own room now, your majesty?" Naruto's voice sounded, dripping with sarcasm.

Sasuke grunted and the door swung open. He pointedly refrained from meeting the blonde's eyes as the other boy slink back in and was rewarded with silence. Miraculously, his loud-mouthed roommate had the sense not to ask questions, and Sasuke was left undisturbed as Naruto's feet pattered across the floor.

The raven-haired male was turning towards the wall, preparing for a night of restlessness, when he heard the sound of a cup being placed on his bed stand. He turned around, only to see that the blonde had crawled into his own bed after leaving a steaming mug beside him.

"What is this?" the raven-haired boy asked suspiciously.

"Warm milk and honey." The blonde replied shortly, not turning to face him. "I got it from Iruka. It helps me when I can't sleep, though I don't know if it works on assholes."

Sasuke sniffed it cautiously.

"You don't have to drink it if you don't want to." Naruto said, his voice muffled by his comforter. "I'm going catch up on some desperately needed shut-eye."

True to his word, the blonde's light snores filled the room only minutes later. Sasuke remained unmoving a few more moments before finally taking a sip of the concoction, the warmth welcome to his body which had previously gone cold from his nightmare. The sweetness of the drink settled him, and after draining the entire cup, Sasuke was asleep only seconds after his head hit his pillow.

* * *

AlexandriteSky: Sorry it's a little bit short guys! Please leave a review letting me know what you think!


	4. Chapter 4

AlexandriteSky: A giant thanks to everybody who responded! You guys are the absolute best. This chapter's for you guys!

* * *

The next few weeks passed awkwardly, with Sasuke and Naruto speaking about three words on average per day. Usually these words were "I hate you" or "You're an asshole", leaving their relationship the same as ever. However, Sasuke had wordlessly handed the empty mug back to the blonde the day after his nightmare, and from then on, the blonde would leave to get him one every time he woke up in the middle of the night.

During the day Naruto was hardly in the room anymore, instead choosing to spend his time with his new friends. Kiba's roommate, Shikamaru, had finally woken up long enough to tell him his name and help him bypass the school's internet security, which automatically made them best friends against his will. Kiba now dragged him with him whenever he went out, and though the other boy protested, he went along willingly enough.

A girl named Hinata had also joined their group, after Naruto had saved her from being hit on by two repulsive pigs. She was a soft-spoken, timid girl, but upon witnessing Kiba blush during their first introduction, Naruto had insisted that she come along with them wherever they went (though he remained mysterious oblivious to the way she blushed whenever he spoke to her). Her friends Sakura and Ino usually accompanied them as well, but they did so with the air of older sisters who wanted to protect their young from being polluted by the opposite sex.

Two guys, Shino and Choji, were also often around since they lived in the same dorm, but they were a little hard to interact with because of their eccentric personalities. Shino preferred to spend his time with insects rather than with people, while Choji preferred the companionship of anything that he could stuff in his mouth. It was fortunate for Shino that Choji abhorred the taste of insects, or else he would have had to apply for a new roommate immediately.

There were many other students that Naruto had become acquainted with, but he quickly found out that he disliked most of them. It became apparent over the weeks that though he had managed to make friends, many students at the school still thought of him as inferior because of his background, which they made no effort to conceal.

"Stick and stones, man." Naruto told Kiba as he held him back from attacking some students who had mouthed off to him while passing by.

"How can you stand it?" the wolf-lover scowled, shrugging off Naruto's hand. "It makes my blood boil, and they're not even talking to me!"

"I usually can't, that's why I've been kicked out of so many schools. Remember?" the blonde grinned, grabbing his bag from the patch of grass that it had been thrown onto earlier. "This place is my last chance. If I don't make it through here, I'm screwed."

"It's funny that you say that this school is your last chance, when it's so difficult for most people to get into." Shikamaru spoke up from the side, where he had watched all of the events unravel.

"I'm a funny guy, Shika." Naruto dusted himself off and offered the boy a crooked grin. It was harder to get things past the spikey-haired boy, who had proven himself infinitely brighter than the average student (and his roommate). The blonde could tell that his friend had questions that he wanted to ask, but the boy was smart enough to know that he wouldn't get answers even if he tried.

"You guys are talking about weird stuff again." Kiba sighed, practically pouting as he retrieved his bag from the floor as well. "How are things between you and the princess?" he asked, as the three boys made their way the auditorium. The school had called for a mandatory meeting, where the candidates for the next student council president were to be announced and give their introductory speeches.

"The same as always." Naruto replied nonchalantly. He hadn't told anybody about what had occurred that night a few weeks ago, nor did he mean to. "I say hi and he tells me to fuck off, so we've resorted to just not talking at all."

"No wonder you spend so much time in our room." Kiba winced. "Ah well, not like I don't know how you feel – this guy's always sleeping, which leaves me pretty lonely." He pointed in Shikamaru's direction, who was in the middle of large yawn. "Why do you sleep so much, anyways?" Kiba demanded rather crossly.

"I like to sleep." Came Shikamaru's straightforward reply. "It doesn't require motivation, effort, or the act of moving."

"He's got a point." Naruto laughed, inwardly admiring Shikamaru a bit. He was the kind of guy who slept through all of his classes but still aced every test, moving through life with minimal effort. Naruto would kill to have his intelligence, but he supposed he had to make do with what he had.

Kiba shook his head. "You've got no survival instincts, man." He lectured his roommate. "Wolves get up every day because they know they gotta eat – it's how nature works. You ever see an animal use an alarm clock? Hell no!"

"I'm glad I'm human then." Was the lazy response. "Though my life has been a lot more chaotic recently since you've started to drag me out of my bed." He pointed out with mild irritation.

"You know you've secretly been waiting for somebody to do that your entire life." Kiba retorted, rolling his eyes.

"Strangely enough, I always thought it would be a woman."

"I don't think most girls have the muscle power. I literally have to throw him on the floor before he finally registers that he's not in his bed anymore." Kiba muttered under his breath while Naruto stood back and chuckled at the friendly banter.

Together, the three guys searched out seats in the auditorium, and Naruto caught sight of Hinata waving at them from across the room. They made their way there, where the girl had saved a couple of seats for all of their friends.

"Thanks, Hinata!" Kiba exclaimed eagerly, running to take the seat next to her. Naruto and Shikamaru followed behind, both of them smiling knowingly as Kiba instantly engaged her in conversation.

"That guy's easier to read than a book." Shikamaru commented with a sigh, sliding into the seat next to Kiba. Naruto followed suit, slouching slightly and putting his hands in his pocket. "He might as well paint a giant billboard on his forehead."

"It's a good thing Hinata's more oblivious than a deaf mouse, then." Naruto chuckled. "Or else things would have been _way_ too easy, and not half as interesting to watch."

The lights in the auditorium dimmed, causing the murmurs of conversation to die away. A tall blonde woman stepped onto the stage, her strides full of purpose as she approached the podium.

"As you all know, I am Tsunade, your headmaster." She spoke, her voice clear and piercing. "Tonight, we have gathered to introduce the candidates for student council president. They will each give a speech to introduce themselves, with our current president speaking last since you are all well acquainted with him already."

"I wish life had a fast forward button." Kiba whispered, Naruto nodding in agreement. Shikamaru would have probably agreed as well, had he not already passed out cold in his seat.

The next hour was pure and utter boredom, as student after student got on stage and all said pretty much the same exact thing. Some of them offered useless information like what they liked to eat and who their favorite singers were, and by the end of the hour, Naruto and Kiba had already completed about fifty games of tic-tac-toe and twenty games of hangman.

"This shit doesn't even matter." Kiba muttered, shaking his head as another candidate finished his speech. "They're all going to be weeded out before the actual election anyways."

Naruto made his move. "What do you mean?" he asked, choosing the letter 'Y'. Kiba drew a head and Naruto cursed softly. _It was never the god damn letter Y!_

"I mean that there's usually around twenty to thirty candidates at first, and usually all but five mysteriously drop out in the next few weeks. By the time we vote, I predict there will only be three or four guys left – and the class prez, of course." The wolf-lover replied. "Politics is a dangerous life style here at Konoha Academy."

"Hmmmm." Naruto hummed, for the most part unconcerned. He thought it was wrong, of course, but it didn't have anything to do with him – he was not, in any shape or form, a justice fighter, and he preferred to stay as background noise to people like those on the stage. Unless the current class president was planning to stop serving sweet potato fries in the dining hall, Naruto had no qualms with him except for the fact that he was a cruel human being.

Kiba looked up as Naruto contemplated his next letter, and the blonde could feel him tense.

"Oh man, you're not going to like this."

The blonde glanced up, and his face paled as the next candidate strode on stage. Sasuke looked as well groomed as ever as he stood on the podium, and while girls all around him swooned, Naruto could feel his heart drop to his stomach as his roommate began his speech.

_He __**had**__ to be kidding._

"I'm Sasuke Uchiha." The boy spoke, his voice carrying through the room and seducing the audience with its low baritone. "And I'm campaigning to be your next student council president."

"Did you know about this?" Kiba whispered.

"Do you _think_ I knew about this?" Naruto hissed back, his pencil dropping onto the ground where it lay forgotten.

Even Shikamaru was awake as all three boys stared up at the student currently speaking, Naruto's eyes wide as his roommate continued with his speech.

"I won't repeat the things that everybody before me said." The raven-haired boy spoke quietly. "Yes, I want to improve the school, and yes, I have many ideas for innovation, but I think the greatest issue that has to be addressed first is the student elections themselves – and I'm sure all of you know exactly what I'm talking about."

"He's a dead man." Kiba gasped. "Seriously. He's _dead_."

"I will say this now and it will carry throughout my entire campaign." Sasuke asserted, his face radiating with determination. "I will _not_ run a crooked election. If I do win this election, let it be known that I won fair and square, without any underhanded negotiations or…_disappearing_ opponents. I'm sure that many will come after me for saying this, but if I prevail, I want everybody who supports a clean election to vote for me so that we can resolve this issue for good. Thank you."

The auditorium erupted into a roar of applause, while Naruto stayed glue to his chair with shock.

"Yeah, I'm going to have to agree with Kiba." Shikamaru spoke up, patting Naruto on the shoulder. "Naruto, your roommate is dead."

* * *

AlexandriteSky: Love you all! Please leave a review on your way out!


	5. Chapter 5

AlexandriteSky: A giant hug to all those who reviewed! I love hearing all of your feedback!

* * *

"Why didn't you tell me?"

Sasuke swung around, only to see Naruto standing at the doorway.

"Tell you _what_?" the raven-haired boy snapped, turning back to his desk impatiently. He didn't have time to be talking to his roommate – now that he had openly declared war, he had a lot of preparations to make and numerous bases to cover. The election process had become irreversibly corrupt with Kabuto sitting on the throne, and Sasuke intended to send him flying to his feet.

That couldn't be done unless he was adequately prepared to counter the current student body president's vast and powerful sources. Kabuto's influence was so wide that it was impossible to see where it even started; Sasuke knew he was at the beginning of a treacherous up-hill battle.

"You didn't say a single word about student elections." The blonde responded, deliberately stepping over the tape that divided their room into two. "That you were running for _president_." The blonde added, walking up until he stood behind the raven-haired boy.

"It wasn't any of your business." Sasuke retorted abrasively, not looking up from the pile of papers in front of him.

"Uh hello? I breathe the same oxygen as you for over 12 hours each day."

Sasuke's lips tightened."Let's not make it even worse by butting into each other's personal lives."

"I'm your _roommate_!" Naruto countered hotly, his voice starting to give Sasuke a migraine. "Of course it's my business if my roommate chooses to go out and get himself killed! That kind of thing sticks to a guy's conscience – talk about emotional scars, selfish prick."

"That won't happen." Sasuke snapped, swinging around in his chair so that he could face the blonde squarely. Naruto held his ground impressively, cerulean eyes flashing as a bit of color rose to his cheeks in poorly concealed fury. He looked far more offended than Sasuke would have anticipated, considering the non-existent relationship between them.

"I know we're not friends or anything." The blonde stated quietly, his lips thin. "Hell, I can count on one hand the number of things I know about you, even though we've been living with each other for the past month and a half. But I still think a risk of this scale would have been nice to know."

"Why would I possibly want you involved in my private matters?" Sasuke demanded arrogantly.

"What am I, week old chopped liver?" Naruto looked appropriately miffed.

The blonde was naive to think that somebody of his standing could possibly make a difference without possessing any kind of financial backing or support. Unlike Sasuke, who had been born and raised in the cutthroat lifestyle of politics and entrepreneurship, Naruto had no understanding of the repercussions he could face for blundering foolishly into something flying so over his head.

"Look." Sasuke explained patiently, dictating his words slowly and precisely. "Even if you think I'm discriminating against you because of social status, I'm only stating the inevitable. Someone like you is too easily removed– all it takes it the snap of a finger by the wrong person, and that loan of yours is gone. You'll be kicked out of school, with no jobs willing to take you, and your entire life could be ruined forever."

The blonde stared at him, wide-eyed.

"It's a different story for me." Sasuke continued. "I've got money. Supporters. Political clout. Even if I do fail, it's simply a matter of damage control. That's why, in order to win this battle, I can only involve those who can stand on their own – I need people that cannot fall. That's not you."

Naruto's face was dark when Sasuke turned back to his desk, pointedly ending the conversation.

For a few minutes there was only silence, with a tension so thick that it was almost suffocating. Finally, the rustling of clothes was heard as Naruto shifted, and though Sasuke wasn't facing him he could clearly hear the metal in the blonde's voice.

"Fine." Naruto replied, uncharacteristically cold and dripping with venomous sarcasm. "I know when I'm being told to fuck off. I won't bother you any more, Sasuke – as I understand it, a low-bred can only serve as deadweight anyways. Excuse me as the commoner removes himself from your presence."

With a mocking bow, the blonde shot the back of his head one final glare before storming out. The slamming of the door announced the blonde's exit, and Sasuke let out the breath had subconsciously been holding.

It really hadn't been personal; if Naruto had been a bit more rational, he might have seen it as well.

This world was one that the blonde didn't belong in, like a fish out of water. Sasuke didn't have the ability to support him; If Naruto wanted to continue attending such a prestigious academy undisturbed, his only option was to lay low and keep off the radar. Even his street experience wouldn't help him in this crowd – here, battles were fought with bank accounts and deeds, not with fists and words.

There was no reason to feel guilty, Sasuke reminded himself. In the end, he was doing the blonde a favor.

_**Those on top possess everything.**_

_**Those who have nothing, are nothing.**_

Sleep brought nightmares that were worst than usual, and Sasuke woke up only to see that Naruto still hadn't come back to the room.

_**He was alone.**_

Pathetic, Sasuke thought, wiping at his eyes with disgust. Only a month later, he was already accustomed to squinting at blonde's back though the shadowed darkness of their room. Though the blonde was often out, he always returned at night in a surprisingly obedient manner, and this was the first time Sasuke had spent the night alone since his arrival at school.

_It was lonelier than he remembered_.

* * *

"Um this goes without saying but…Did you and the princess have another quarrel?"

"Oh fuck off, Kiba." Naruto groaned, burying his head into his arms. "Not today, alright mate?"

"Definitely a brawl." Kiba affirmed, seemingly proud of himself as he turned to Shikamaru, who shot him an annoyed glance for his inappropriate response to their friend's woe. Naruto was sore and cranky; a dangerous combination. He had spent all night on the couch in the lounge, only to find that he had overslept the next day and missed half of his classes, one of which had in-class homework due that day.

"You asked him about the student council elections?" the perpetually lazy male asked indifferently, though his eyes supported a knowing glint.

"I asked him all right, and received a flashing red middle finger in reply." The blonde scowled, angrily stuffing a fork full of mashed potatoes into his mouth. "He practically set off fireworks advertising his distaste. He said I wasn't 'qualified' enough to help him because of my social status, and that I was better off not sticking my nose where it doesn't belong. Fucking prick."

"Whoah now, don't you think you're taking this a bit too seriously?" Kiba looked a bit nervous. "I mean, you knew he was an asshole since the beginning – I honestly don't know why you're so pissed when we all subconsciously knew it would end up this way. If he doesn't want his help, there's nothin' you can do about it. His loss!"

The blonde scowled darkly. "I feel humiliated." Naruto admitted. He had stopped eating by now, and had resorted to mercilessly stabbing what food was left in his plate.

Each dying pea gave him a tiny bit of satisfaction.

Kiba looked genuinely concerned over Naruto's words. "Why?" he asked, wincing at the sight of the blonde's mutilated food. The sound of clinking metal resonated throughout the hall as Naruto threw down his silverware in frustration before grabbing at his hair.

"Back in the day, I fought because it made me feel strong." He explained, shaking his bangs out of his eyes."Every time I took down an opponent, I felt like I had _achieved_ something – admittedly, kinda savage in hindsight. Now I come here, and I'm told that I'm too weak to be considered an ally. That kind of thing hurts a man's pride."

"Are you sure this is about your pride, Naruto?" Kiba's roommate asked monotonously. As always, Shikamaru possessed a much sharper intuition than most, which he exercised freely under the condition that he be awake long enough to use it.

"What else could it be?" Naruto retorted crossly. "It's not like Sasuke and I are buddies."

"You could be worried." Shikamaru offered.

"About that asshole? Yeah right." The blonde snorted, pushing his tray away from him. "That guy is the very definition of social hierarchy, with his pretty face sitting smack-dab on the top."

"That's a great deal of hostility." His friend noted.

"Um my back spent the night becoming acquainted with grand-father couch in the lounge." Naruto moodily flicked a carrot of the table. "I'm pretty sure that I'm entitled to at least an hour of bitching."

"Hmm…" was Shikamaru's skeptical response.

"Come on, man – cut him some slack." Kiba chewed noisily before swiping a fry off of Shikamaru's plate. "If a dude brings up man-pride, it's serious business."

His roommate rolled his eyes in response. "What's it like to live in an ever-lasting haze of obliviousness?"

Kiba stared at him. "Awesome?"

Shikamaru snorted but shrugged in submission. There wasn't much he could say back to that, anyways.

Naruto checked the clock on the opposite side of the hall and clicked his tongue.

"Well, might as well try to go to the rest of my classes, since I already skipped the first half of my day." he sighed, rising to his feet. "I'll catch up with you guys up later."

He left his friends with a curt nod and stalked past an approaching Hinata, who peered back at him in confusion as she made her way to the dining table. Kiba brightened like a kid at a candy shop as she neared, instantly nudging Shikamaru to scoot over so that the girl could sit on his other side.

"N-Naruto seemed upset." She stammered out, her voice laced with concern. The girl tended to stutter upon first speaking, but as the conversation progressed, this stutter would quickly disappear. Her slight speech impediment was apparently a lingering trauma of her strict upbringing, but like many other students at the Academy she kept her family life to herself.

"Roommate drama, and a developing insecurity about his own self worth." Kiba rolled his eyes, grinning wolfishly as he casually put his arm around the shy girl's shoulder. "It's all pretty boring, really; I'd rather hear about how _you've_ been doing, Hinata."

"You amaze me with your insensitivity, Kiba." Shikamaru sighed, deciding it was no longer worth it to stay awake as he lay his head down on the table.

"What's that supposed to mean?" Kiba responded with a frowned. "_Hey, Shikamaru, don't fall asleep in the dining hall you lazy bastard!"_

* * *

AlexandriteSky: Thanks so much for reading, and be sure to leave a review on your way out!


	6. Chapter 6

Sasuke looked up as a soft yet sharp knock resounded on the door, and after his initial surprise receded the raven-haired male rose to his feet slowly with one hand curled around the pen he had previously been writing with.

Whoever was there, Sasuke knew they weren't here for a simple house-call. Nobody ever knocked on that door; not that way, at least. Sasuke maintained a strict lack of visitors, while Naruto's friends simply chose to barge in unannounced like the mindless buffoons they were; should the door be locked, they usually resorted to banging on the wood while howling like caged animals.

This allowed Sasuke to easily decipher the intentions of the person waiting outside, who was growing more and more impatient as seconds trickled past.

The knock sounded again, this time louder and filled with purpose.

"Sasuke Uchiha?"

The raven-haired male's blood ran cold at the familiar voice which called his name.

"I know you're in there, Sasuke. No need to stall – I'm here for a _friendly_ visit."

Sasuke's lips stretched into a straight line. "My roommate-"

"-Is in room 319 with his friends Kiba Inuzuka and Shikamaru Nara. I came with full confidence that we would be undisturbed."

Just once, Sasuke wished Naruto would be his usual interfering self and lumber back into the room after forgetting his homework or entire backpack (it wouldn't be the first time). The blonde had yet to return to the room since their most recent disagreement, leaving the space they shared uncharacteristically quiet in his wake. However, Sasuke knew it was futile to expect him, and instead redirected his attention to his current situation.

With a deep breath he strode forward and unlocked the door, swinging it open to reveal a face that made Sasuke's gut churn.

"Kabuto." He greeted shortly, keeping his voice in check as to not alert the other male to his apprehension. "To what do I owe the pleasure?" he asked dryly.

The silver-haired male motioned behind him. "May I?"

"My apologies, my room's too messy at the moment to allow guests." Sasuke answered evenly, remaining centered in the doorway as to prevent Kabuto from slipping by. The safest way to deal with an opponent as shifty as Kabuto was to remain in the public eye at all times. The silver-haired male gave a strained smile as a group of students passed by and greeted him, and there was angry spark in his eyes that had been absent earlier when he turned back around.

The look vanished in an instant and Kabuto was back to smiling pleasantly as he peered over Sasuke's shoulder.

"Your room is remarkably clean for one that's supposedly messy." He commented amicably. "In fact, I don't think I even see a single thing out of place."

Sasuke shut the door behind him.

"Is there something you needed from me, Kabuto?" he demanded.

The silver-haired male spared the door behind Sasuke one final glance before he seemed to relent, and when he turned to Sasuke he was the epitome of pleasantry and charm.

"You misunderstand my intentions. I merely came to introduce myself, from one candidate to the other." Kabuto smiled with his eyes arching upwards. "Your introductory speech was most…moving."

Sasuke knew better than to trust Kabuto's poisonous smile.

"We've now been introduced." He replied flatly. "If you'll excuse me…"

"Not yet."

The raven-haired paused as cold fingers wrapped tightly around his arm, stopping him as he moved to leave. Sasuke fought the urge to wince as the amount of pressure steadily increased, and he knew he would be sporting a bruise the day after.

"Release me." He warned, hand tightening around the pen he still held.

"I wouldn't do that if I were you." Kabuto smiled, leaning forward. "See, since you refused to let me in, we've got cameras recording this entire exchange. What do you think the punishment is for stabbing the current student body president?"

Sasuke growled and wrestled his arm away with a mighty tug. "Enjoy it while it lasts, Kabuto. You won't be on top for much longer."

The silver-haired male's eyes flashed, but he didn't rise to Sasuke's bait. Instead, he pushed up his glasses and offered another sickeningly charming smile.

"You're playing a dangerous game, Sasuke." Kabuto glanced at his fingernails with disinterest. "Are you sure you don't want to fold?"

"You don't intimidate me." Sasuke snorted.

Kabuto's brow rose. "I haven't shown you any of my cards yet."

"Neither have I." the raven-haired male gazed unflinchingly at his opponent.

"Are you sure you have that many to play?" Kabuto asked with an infuriating smirk that foretold darker intentions. "You may have me financially matched, Sasuke, but you're sorely lacking in all other areas. You don't even have a family to support you – isn't your only remaining relative locked up the loony bin?"

Sasuke saw red.

"The next time you speak about my family, I will rip your tongue out." He growled murderously, grabbing Kabuto by the front of his shirt and jerking him forward. The other male made no move to protest as Sasuke glared down at him, instead opting to stand perfectly still with his arms against his side.

"Careful, Sasuke." He chuckled. "You're the one who chose to have this discussion in public. We wouldn't want your image to be destroyed, would you?"

The raven-haired male glanced around to see that a small gathering of students had formed around them, some of them taking pictures with their phones. With a frustrated snarl Sasuke released the sneering male and allowed Kabuto take a few steps backwards, the raven-haired male breathing heavily as Kabuto smoothed the creases in his shirt.

All around them people were beginning to whisper, and Sasuke scrambled for a way to smooth things over before rumors got out of hand. Upon seeing Kabuto's triumphant sneer, the raven-haired male realized too late that this had been his intention all along.

Kabuto had assumed that Sasuke would talk to him in a pubic area and had used that to his advantage to reduce his opponent's popularity.

If he wanted any chance of beating Kabuto, he'd have to be cautious and beat him at his own game.

"Um…there's a party going on outside my room and I wasn't invited!?"

The new voice was unmistakable, and Sasuke's eyes closed warily for a brief moment before he turned to see Naruto watching the situation with raised brows.

"Ah." Kabuto sounded, looking immensely displeased like somebody who had just had their prize taken away. "Sasuke's roommate."

Naruto frowned.

"Is that a problem?" he challenged. "Way to make a guy feel unwelcome."

The students around them whispered louder, and sweat broke out on Kabuto's forehead as he glanced around them.

"You misunderstand, Naruto." He smiled at last. "I was merely surprised by your sudden arrival."

The blonde's frown deepened. "I never told you my name."

_He was surprisingly sharp_, Sasuke noted. Still, it wasn't enough to shake Kabuto's flawless mask.

"As student body president, I take pride in learning the names of all my peers." He replied, holding out a hand. "It's nice to formally meet you, Naruto."

The blonde accepted the gesture hesitantly, but he skeptically looked Kabuto up and down as he did.

"Can I go into my room now?" he asked crossly. "I just wanted to take a piss."

Kabuto's gaze was full of unspoken intentions as it met Sasuke's, but his grin remained plastered on his face. "Of course." He replied, eyes never leaving Sasuke's form. "I was just leaving."

He nodded curtly to the raven-haired male.

"Good luck." He grinned before making his exit, bringing the crowd of students with him.

"Woooow." Naruto drawled once Kabuto was out of earshot. "What a slimy bastard."

Sasuke didn't grace the comment with a reply, instead choosing to return to their room. Naruto followed closely behind, dazzling sapphire still focused in the direction of Kabuto's retreat.

"I'll take him down." The raven-haired male said at last without looking at his roommate.

Naruto glanced at him with a mixed expression that clearly showed that he was contemplating whether or not to remain mad at him for their previous encounter. At last, he seemed to settle for the latter, and he gave a small nod.

"Now _that's_ something I'd pay to see." He grinned.

Sasuke didn't respond, but the slight straightening of his back said that he agreed.


	7. Chapter 7

AlexandriteSky: A big shoutout to all those who reviewed! This chapter is for you guys!

* * *

"_I fucked up, man. I fucked up bad."_

"Kiba?" the blonde frowned at the urgency in his friend's phone as he shifted his cell phone from one hand to another. "Where the hell are you? We said we were meeting up thirty minutes ago!"

"I'm screwed, dude." Kiba's voice was breathy, as if he had just finished running a marathon. "Totally, completely, and permanently _screwed_. Period. End of story, close the book, trash it-"

"Just calm down, Kiba." Naruto interrupted his friend's desperate rambling while leaping to his feet from the bench he had been sitting on. They had originally agreed to meet there for lunch. "Start from the beginning." he urged. "I'm many things, but psychic ain't one of them."

His friend took a deep breath, causing a wave of static to erupt over the line.

"You know that test I said I had today?" Kiba began at last.

"The one you didn't know you had until around midnight last night?" Naruto asked, wincing at the memory. They had been gathered in Kiba's room playing cards when the realization had struck, and Kiba had taken the news rather badly.

Badly, meaning that the fanged boy had flailed in circles around his room for an hour before Shikamaru had begged Naruto to make him stop.

"Yeah. That one." Kiba's voice was beginning to sound sheepish.

The blonde heaved a sigh, knowing what that tone meant after having used it so many times before.

"What did you do, man?" he asked with dread.

"I…may or may not have broken into the teacher's office this morning and made a copy of the answer key. And then I may or may not have brought said answer key with me to my test," Kiba sounded mildly accomplished while Naruto groaned loudly and buried his head in his hands.

"You got caught cheating!?" he demanded. With all of his experience jumping in between schools, Naruto knew that cheating was the one offense that was universally inexcusable. Schools were more inclined to forgive you for punching your friend in the face than showing up with a cheat sheet, and at a school like Konoha Academy he had no doubt that the policy was ruthless.

"I'm no amateur." Kiba protested. "I've never gotten caught before! I swear the prof has eyes in the back of his head!"

"Where are you now?" Naruto asked.

"They locked me in the Dean's office." His friend replied hurriedly. "I got transferred here directly after class and haven't been allowed to move an inch since. They've been watching me like a dog – maybe even worse, 'cos dogs still get a little bit of damn privacy!"

Kiba yelled the last part, and Naruto could only assume that somebody was guarding his door to prevent him from escaping.

"What's going to happen to you?" the blonde questioned, feeling a lump in his throat. Kiba was his first and closest friend at the Academy – to have him taken away would leave an empty void in his wake. He knew that his friend could be impulsive and make rash decisions, but he had a good heart; the blonde would sorely resent seeing him expelled.

"No freaken clue." Kiba's voice became fearful. "I think they're waiting till my professor's done teaching his next class. My cheat sheet's still in his office after being confiscated – once he turns it over to the school board, they get the go-ahead to do with me what they want."

The gears in Naruto's head began to turn.

"So they can't do anything to you until they get the sheet?"

"Yeah – wait, you're not planning something, are you?"

The blonde pursed his lips. "I might be."

"You can't be serious." Kiba was both incredulous and fearful. "Don't do anything stupid, bud. You're walking on even thinner ice than I am!"

"My friend, screw the ice, you're already swimming in the damn lake." Naruto countered.

"Yeah but-"

"Where's your professor's office?"

"It's in the ILC building, room 229. Naruto-"

"That's all I need." The blonde tapped his finger thoughtfully against his chin. He knew that his friend was desperately trying to persuade him not to do anything, but Naruto had no intentions of seeing Kiba go because of a stupid mistake. This was _his _school life, dammit, and he was going to enjoy it to its max potential.

"You can't get in without a key, anyways." Kiba continued. "I swiped one earlier but it got taken away."

Naruto blinked innocently. "Keys?"

His friend hesitated. "Don't tell me…"

"I've picked a lock or two back in the day." Naruto grinned. "Allegedly."

Kiba's groan was loud and piercing over the phone. "Why am I not surprised? What are you planning to with the cheat sheet, though? My professor's not stupid – he already saw that I had it. They're not going to believe that it disappeared into thin air."

"I'm not going to make it disappear, just…less incriminating." The blonde elaborated.

"I'm not following." Naruto could practically hear Kiba's frown over the phone.

"No need." The blonde now headed back towards his dorm at full speed. He was racing against time; Kiba's professor would be out of class in forty five minutes. "I gotta go, Kiba. Don't admit to anything, and if it goes well, you'll be out before dinner."

"Wait-"

Kiba was still protesting as he hung up.

Naruto wasn't exactly proud of his less-than-stellar deeds from the past, but it was futile to deny that they came in handy. Minutes later found him in Kiba's room, aggressively shaking Shikamaru awake from his mid-afternoon nap.

"Come on, Shikamaru. Wake up!" he urged, slapping his friend lightly. "Kiba's in the dog house, and we've got around forty minutes before he's kicked out forever."

_That_ woke Shikamaru up.

"What?" he blinked. "What has that idiot done?"

"Cheat sheet." Naruto replied.

"Fuck." The other male rubbed his eyes.

Together, the two of them shared a collective sigh.

"Alright, I'm in." Shikamaru swung his legs over the side of his bed. "What do I have to do?"

"I need you to hack into the school's security system and tell me if there are any cameras in the ILC, second floor." Naruto explained as the long-haired male moved to his computer. "And then I need you to get a copy of the exam key."

"Those aren't small favors." Shikamaru grumbled. "Kiba owes me big time."

His fingers flew over his keypad so quickly that they blurred together, and Naruto watched with a mystified expression as numerous tabs were simultaneously pulled up on the screen. A few seconds later and Shikamaru had already breached the school's extensive firewall, and the two males were staring at the security cameras for every building on campus.

"ILC?" Shikamaru verified.

"Yeah." The blonde affirmed, tapping his finger against the back of Shikamaru's chair impatiently. The ILC building was a fifteen minute walk away on the opposite side of campus – five, if Shikamaru let him borrow his bike. Depending on how long it took to retrieve and modify a copy of the answer key, Naruto calculated his window of opportunity to be around twenty minutes.

"Here we are." Shikamaru grunted, expanding one file until it filled the screen.

"Awesome Shikamaru. You're a magician." Naruto praised before leaning over. "Is this Room 229?" he asked, pointing at the screen. "Fuck." He cursed, cerulean eyes sweeping over the images. "No blind spots."

"Troublesome. Let's just make one." Shikamaru drawled, sounding bored.

Naruto stared at him wide-eyed in awe. "You can do that!?"

"I'm already in the system, aren't I?" the lazy-eyed male shrugged. "What's the point of holding back now?"

"You sure we won't be caught?"

His friend popped a piece of gum into his mouth. "We won't. I just need to put the footage on loop for a few seconds; unless they count the frames per second, it'll be impossible to detect."

"You're the best." Naruto grinned, peering closer at the security footage. "The door has a normal turn-style lock – I'll have no problem getting in."

"I pulled up Kiba's exam key." Shikamaru pulled backwards. "What do you want me to do to it?"

Naruto frowned as he considered their options. This would be the most difficult part of the plan – it didn't matter how smoothly he could break into the office if he didn't have something to replace the incriminating evidence with. However, the fact that Kiba's professor had already seen it complicated matters; they would need to alter it so that it was a lesser offense without tipping the professor off that it was a fake.

"There's a security guard on every floor." Shikamaru pointed out, eyes still glued to the security footage. "They make their rounds once every ten minutes."

The blonde whistled appreciatively. "This school doesn't leave anything to chance."

He fiddled with his bangs thoughtfully, peering through them at the screen. "What if we changed the answer key so that the answers are wrong?" he suggested. "Keep the questions the same but make the answers similar, yet ridiculous."

"Kiba can say that he bought it from somebody else." Shikamaru added, already beginning to doctor the document. "It would take the fire off of him and redirect it to finding the ring leader."

Naruto slapped his hands together and rubbed them with anticipation. "Kiba won't get off with a slap on the wrist, but it might stop him from being expelled." He breathed.

Shikamaru nodded. "It's the best we can do." He stated before clicking on the document to print. Moments later it was in Naruto's hands, and the blonde heaved a deep sigh before grabbing a baseball hat off of Kiba's bed and pushing it onto his head.

"Keep an eye out for me." He motioned towards the surveillance cameras on Shikamaru's screen.

"Yeah." The other male nodded, chewing his gum furiously. "Good luck."

Naruto grinned.

"I don't need luck. But I _do_ need your bike."

Shikamaru's glare was dark. "I expect it to be returned in pristine condition."

The blonde merely winked at him before shutting the door behind him.

* * *

Sasuke was trudging towards his next class when a glimmer of blonde caught the corner of his eye. The raven-haired male looked up to see his roommate speeding by at full speed, brilliant cerulean eyes gleaming with adrenaline and cheeks flushed with excitement. Naruto had never worn a cap before but there was one now pushing down on his head, shadowing his face and rendering it unrecognizable at some angles. He was shouldering a different bag than normal as well; this one was devoid of the usual eye-splitting orange, almost as if the blonde was trying to attract as little attention as possible.

Onyx eyes narrowed as they followed the blonde's retreating back.

In order to better avoid his roommate's existence, Sasuke had once obtained a copy of the blonde's schedule earlier in the year. Blessed with perfect recall, Sasuke knew that Naruto had no classes for the rest of the day, and certainly none that would lead him dashing towards the north end of campus.

Realistically, Sasuke knew that Naruto's decisions were none of his business. However, he couldn't quite shake the feeling that the blonde was planning to do something incredibly stupid.

At this point in the election, Sasuke couldn't risk something happening to the blonde. If Naruto was kicked out of school, Sasuke would be assigned a new roommate, and he could only imagine the endless opportunities that Kabuto would be presented with. Kabuto would indubitably take it upon himself to choose him a "suitable" replacement – Sasuke couldn't allow that to happen.

The raven-haired male frowned before turning around and heading in the direction he had seen Naruto flying off to. The tire tracks on the dirt made him extremely easy to track, and Sasuke followed them until they led him to the bike rack besides the ILC building.

He glared at the building hatefully, willing his roommate to grow some semblance of intelligence.

_What is the idiot up to now?_

* * *

AlexandriteSky: Thanks for reading, and be sure to leave a review on your way out!


	8. Chapter 8

AlexandriteSky: As always, many thanks to all of my wonderful reviewers! Enjoy!

* * *

Naruto inhaled deeply before striding through the front entrance to the ILC building, his heart beating rapidly against his chest as he greeted the receptionist at the front desk with what he hoped was a casual smile. The woman blinked back at him with blatant disinterest, instead opting to glance down at her perfectly manicured nails. Taking encouragement in her lack of interest, Naruto leisurely began to cross the room, and halfway through to his destination her gaze had already returned to the screen of her laptop.

So far so good.

The blonde shot the woman once more glance before slipping around the corner, pulling out his cell phone as he did so.

**I'm in.**

Shikamaru's reply was prompt and appropriately concise.

**7 min**

Naruto cursed softly under his breath before checking the time. Seven minutes didn't allow much room for error; each office was installed with highly transparent windows, allowing nearly complete visibility to the guards each time they passed by. There was nowhere for him to hide should the need arise – his best option was to avoid confrontation altogether.

His phone vibrated once more against his leg from his pocket.

**Wut r u going to use 4 the lock?**

The blonde gazed into the nearest security camera knowing that Shikamaru was watching and cracked a grin.

**Wait and c **

As if on cue the west entrance slammed open to reveal two girls, both deeply absorbed in their conversation as they chirped noisily back and forth. Naruto watched them approach with keen eyes while discretely removing his baseball hat and tucking it into one pocket as to not appear suspicious. He waited until they were closer before setting off towards them at a brisk pace, his gaze focused downwards as he pretended to be engrossed with his phone. When he was about a shoulder's width away, the blonde swung around suddenly, mercilessly sending both his mark and him toppling to the ground while her friend squeaked in surprise.

"_What the hell_! Watch where you're going!" his target screeched in indignation.

"Oh shit, are you okay!?" Naruto scrambled to help the girl retrieve her fallen articles. "I'm soooo sorry. I can be _such_ an ass sometimes." He gushed, handing the glaring female her binder.

"Are your eyes just decorations for your face? Cos you sure as hell aren't using them right." she snapped, snatching his offering and stuffing it back into her bag.

_It takes two to dance, sweetheart. _

Naruto bit back the overwhelming urge to retort and smiled apologetically instead.

"You're right." He agreed amicably, rubbing the back of his neck. "My bad, my bad."

"Are we done here?" the girl huffed, accepting her friend's outstretched hand and rising to her feet.

"Only if you want to be." Naruto offered a charming grin.

His target gave a disgusted scowl as she dusted off her clothes. "Creep." She rolled her eyes before taking off, her friend struggling to keep up with her rushed pace. Naruto watched her leave while shaking his fist at her retreating back, which he quickly retracted back to his side when she glanced over her shoulder.

He smiled and waved, causing her to speed up until she was out of sight.

With a triumphant grin Naruto turned back towards the camera and gave a slight bow, a newly acquired bobby pin protruding out from between his pointer and middle finger. With it in hand, Naruto retrieved a small metal wrench from his bag and pocketed the two items together. He ascended the nearest stairway and fluidly made his way down the hall, his gaze sharp as he located his destination.

After checking both directions, the blonde hurriedly kneeled and began putting his new tool to use. Picking a lock was like a game of seduction; it was all soft touches and patient coaxing in the face of impending peril. Naruto took his time in listening for the metallic tick of each pin as he unlatched them one by one while rotating his wrist ever so slightly. The trick was in setting each pin perfectly; even the slightest mistake could reset the entire process.

_Come on, baby. Don't fight me._

The blonde's first attempts were met with resistance as the lock remained stiff under his menstruations, and he took a few deep breaths before trying again. The cylinder was stubborn but eventually gave way, and relief washed over the blonde as it gave one last satisfying click. Naruto stood back triumphantly as the door swung open, and a rush of excitement swept through him as he slipped inside.

Now he just had to do the switch.

The blonde frowned as he surveyed the room, cerulean eyes locking onto a cream colored folder that had been haphazardly thrown on top of the desk. Hoping that the professor hadn't had the foresight to hide the evidence, Naruto approached the folder cautiously, his eyes squeezing shut as he flipped it open. He exhaled loudly when the real answer key was revealed, and an impish grin crossed his face as he pulled the forged copy from his bag. He placed the copy neatly into the folder while retrieving the real sheet.

"What the hell are you doing?"

Naruto jumped almost three feet in the air before whirling around to see Sasuke watching him from the doorway with a chilly stare.

"S-Sasuke!" the blonde stammered. "F-fancy seeing you here on this beautiful, sunny day-"

"Cut the shit." Sasuke interrupted, dark eyes piercing as they bore into Naruto's own. They flashed threateningly, warning the blonde not to play any games.

Naruto swallowed thickly.

"Um…well there's an explanation for all of this…" he motioned wildly around him in a frantic attempt to brainstorm an excuse.

Sasuke's glare darkened and Naruto sweat-dropped.

"Would you believe that I'm supposed to be in here?" he asked with a sheepish grin.

If at all possible, Sasuke looked even more menacing than before. "Not after watching you pick the lock." He answered dryly.

The blonde froze. "You were _watching _me!?" he demanded hotly. "What are you, a stalker?"

The other male remained unfazed.

"Breaking into a professor's office is considered a serious offense." Sasuke deadpanned. He remained unmoving in the doorway, even as Naruto peeked around him in an effort to leave.

"So what? You planning on turnin' me in?" the blonde challenged, frustrated by his roommate's unhelpful arrival.

Sasuke snorted.

"I wanted to prevent you from doing irreversible damage to yourself, retard." He retorted sharply, taking Naruto aback.

Cerulean eyes widened as pink dusted the blonde's cheek.

"Didn't know you cared." He mumbled, shifting uncomfortably.

"I don't." Sasuke's voice was flat. "This is obviously for my own benefit."

Naruto's blush receded, only to be replaced by an angry flush. "Good to know." Naruto's tone was caustic as he swept his bangs away from his forehead. "But at this point you'll be considered an accessory if you're found here with me." He pointed out casually.

"Put back whatever you took, and then we'll leave." Sasuke's ultimatum was heavy.

"No fucking way!" the blonde refused immediately. "Look, Sasuke – I know we have our differences, but now is _not_ the time." He reasoned, barely managing to restrain the malice in his voice. "We only have about three minutes before the guard makes his round, and then we'll both be screwed."

The raven-haired male shrugged. "Your call."

Naruto gaped at his roommate openly. "You can't be serious."

Onyx eyes glittered dangerously. "Try me."

The blonde's eyes narrowed as he felt a familiar fire rush through his veins, increasing his heart rate and sharpening his awareness of his surroundings. The last time he had experienced this rush was a year ago when he had been ambushed by a mob of students from an opposing school; Naruto could almost feel the ghost of flesh still stinging against his fist.

"I can make you move, ya know." He warned, his voice escaping in a low growl.

The other male had the audacity to look bored.

"I can make you stay."

Sasuke's aura was severe and domineering, and Naruto found himself shrinking back despite his confidence in his physical ability. His roommate exuded authority even though they were of the same age – the blonde had to actively remind himself that he was under no obligation to obey his commands.

"I'm not putting it back." Naruto glared up at Sasuke fiercely, cerulean eyes set with grim determination. This was a battle of wills, not fists – despite his horrid attitude, the blonde could at least admit that the other male was _trying_ to act in his best interests.

The raven-haired male returned his glare. He opened his mouth to speak, but was interrupted by the sudden buzzing of Naruto's phone. The blonde retrieved it after sending him another scowl, and when he did so his body tensed in alarm.

**Guard coming NOW**.

"_Shit_!" Naruto breathed. "He's too early!"

He whirled around to face Sasuke, his face growing pale. "The guard's coming." He clenched and unclenched his fists.

The raven-haired male seemed to be unfazed by the news, but after looking closer Naruto could see perspiration trickling down his roommate's forehead.

"I thought you said we still had three minutes?" he demanded.

"Maybe he needed to take a piss or somethin' – I don't fucking know!" The blonde glanced around them frantically. "We can't make a run for it now or else he'll see us. Thanks for getting us caught, asswipe."

Sasuke's expression was immaculate despite the clear tension at the corners of his mouth. "Surely you had an escape plan for this kind of scenario?"

"Yeah. My escape plan was to make sure this scenario never happened." The blonde spat.

"Tch." The raven-haired male sounded. "Fucking idiot."

Naruto ignored the insult, instead opting to weigh out his options. The guard's footsteps were approaching fast, and the blonde knew they were out of time.

He groaned loudly, the hazy edges of an idea sharpening in his mind.

"I know how to get us out of this." He stated. "But neither of us is gonna like it."

Sasuke's brow rose.

"Wha-" he began to ask before the blonde forcefully pressed their lips together, effectively silencing him.

* * *

Sasuke's eyes widened in shock as Naruto's lips moved over his own, pressing hot kisses against his mouth with unexpected skill. The raven-haired male's first instinct was to pull away but Naruto wouldn't allow it; the blonde's arms reached up and wrapped around Sasuke's neck, his hands pressing into the back of Sasuke's head and pushing their faces even closer together.

"Just play along." The blonde murmured against his lips, his breath tickling Sasuke's senses and sending a jolt of electricity through his body.

"As if I-" the raven-haired male attempted to protest before Naruto took the opportunity to slip his tongue in. Sasuke's eyes widened as Naruto explored his mouth thoroughly, massaging their tongues together erotically before swiping at the top and sides. A string of mixed saliva was beginning to dribble down the raven-haired male's chin, and he struggled against the shorter blonde's relentless grip before finally caving in.

Naruto squeaked as Sasuke switched from unresponsive to forceful, and soon he was left trembling in the raven-haired male's grip as Sasuke nipped at his bottom lip and then swiped at it with his tongue. Sasuke found himself attacking the blonde with uncharacteristic fervor, encouraged by the glassy expression that was slowly clouding over dazzling sapphire.

"Hey! You kids can't be here!"

The two of them broke away from each other with labored pants as the guard stumbled upon them after what seemed like an eternity. Sasuke found himself unable to rip his gaze away from Naruto's dazed expression and abused lips, even as the guard glanced at the two of them suspiciously.

"Why is that door unlocked?" the large man demanded, motioning towards the doorway that Sasuke was standing in.

Naruto, ever the scheming fox, was the first to reply.

"I-I dunno." He answered shyly, and Sasuke noticed that even the tips of his ears were flushed as he turned away. "We bumped into it when we were…um…and then it opened."

The guard heaved a wary sigh and shook his head.

"They might have forgotten to lock it when they left." He spoke gruffly. "Still, that doesn't mean you guys can wander in and use it as you please. Don't you guys have rooms of your own?"

"Sorry. We were finally alone after so long, so…it won't happen again." The blonde was proving to be an expert at feigning innocence as he squirmed uncomfortably, drawing a merciful sigh from the guard.

"Kids these days." The man rolled his eyes before shooing them out and locking the door behind them. "Fine, I'll let you two off – just this once. Don't let me catch you two lovebirds causing trouble again, you hear me?"

Naruto nodded enthusiastically while Sasuke wordlessly watched the exchange. "Yes sir! Thank you!" the blonde beamed.

The guard smiled back reluctantly.

"Off you go." He pointed in the direction of the stairway, which Naruto and Sasuke immediately turned towards.

"Thank you, mister!" the blonde called behind his shoulder, to which the guard responded with a slight wave.

The two boys were silent as they made their way down the stairs and out the building, with neither of them willing to look at the other. The walk back was tense and seemed to last forever until Sasuke decided to settle things once and for all.

"I'm not gay." He spoke, staring directly at the blonde.

Naruto's face relaxed into a small smile.

"Neither am I." he responded cheerfully. "Still, it worked, right?"

Sasuke wondered if he had previously been hallucinating. There was no way the cheeky blonde beside him could have made such an alluring expression as he had earlier; his judgment had obviously been compromised after such a harrowing experience.

"Never again." He warned, narrowing his eyes.

"What?" the blonde asked with the same innocent act he had used on the guard earlier. "Breaking in or kissing you?"

"Both." Sasuke asserted sternly, the corners of his lips downturned.

"Okay." The blonde laughed easily. After reaching their dorm Naruto branched off and headed towards Kiba's room while Sasuke returned to their own, with no more words exchanged between the two before separating.

Sasuke collapsed into his chair, one hand lifting to press against his temple.

_What the fuck just happened?_

* * *

AlexandriteSky: Thank you so much for reading, and be sure to leave a review on your way out!


	9. Chapter 9

AlexandriteSky: Many, many thanks to all those who reviewed! You guys are the best!

* * *

"That was quite the show." Shikamaru commented nonchalantly as he opened the door for one exceptionally disgruntled looking blonde.

"Shove it, Shikamaru." Naruto replied shortly, pushing his way in. "You didn't have to keep watching."

"At first I did it out of genuine concern for your welfare." His friend deadpanned. "Admittedly, concern may have turned to amusement towards the end."

The blonde flicked him off before taking a nose dive into Kiba's bed, his entire body slumping as he finally allowed himself to relax. Close calls like these really did a number on his nerves; the blonde was relieved to be able to drop his guard at last.

Shikamaru rolled his eyes before shutting the door. "Still, that was a pretty close call."

"Didn't have to be." The blonde sighed, throwing down his bag and pulling out the stolen exam key. "You have somewhere good to stash this?" he asked, scrunching his nose as he flipped through them. "Can't believe I had to swap saliva with the asshole just to get a bunch of papers."

"I've got a better idea." Shikamaru stuck out his hand and retrieved them while Naruto continued to lament over his horrid luck. The lazy-eyed male carried the papers over to a small metal contraption, which was quickly revealed to be a shredder as it demolished the first sheet Shikamaru inserted.

"…You brought a shredder with you to college?" Naruto questioned with a raised brow.

Shikamaru, unfazed by the blonde's weird look, continued to put the rest of the papers through the shredder until none remained. "What, you didn't?"

"Must have slipped my mind." the other male responded dryly. "Though, I didn't even remember to bring a pillow, so what do I know?" he added with a shrug.

"You might be surprised with how many students here think to bring one." Shikamaru commented easily. "Politicians love their shredders. It's a fantastic way to destroy evidence."

Naruto shivered. "This place is having a great influence on me." he stuck his tongue out. "I've never been so happy to be poor."

The other male chuckled lightly in response, but before he could reply heavy footsteps resounded from the hallway outside. Naruto and Shikamaru glanced at each other warily as the steps grew louder, announcing that they would be receiving a visitor shortly. Shikamaru barely had time to push the shredder back into the corner of the room before the door slammed open.

"I don't know what the _fuck_ you guys did, but you guys are my heroes." Kiba grinned triumphantly from the doorway, his entire form practically humming with glee as he bounded over to his startled friends. "You!" he pointed at Naruto, who jumped at the sudden exclamation. "I _love_ you." Kiba said seriously. "Seriously man. I could kiss ya."

Naruto's face paled. "Please don't."

Kiba regarded his friend's overly disgusted reaction with curiosity. "Should I be offended?" he asked his roommate, who shrugged.

"Sacrifices were made to get you here." He replied simply.

"Hell yeah they were." Naruto glowered before relenting with a sigh. "Still, great to see you bud." The blonde grinned, clapping his friend on the shoulder. "What's the damage?"

"I got suspended for a week." Kiba grumbled. "And then I have to make up everything I missed. How cruel is that?"

"Pretty good considering the alternative." Shikamaru rolled his eyes. "You're lucky it wasn't worse."

"True." Kiba nodded enthusiastically. "Honestly, I didn't expect to see either of you ever again. If I got sent home, my parents would probably be waiting to euthanize me at the front door."

Naruto snickered until realizing that his friend was completely serious.

"Uh…well it's a good thing we didn't let that happen then." He coughed awkwardly.

"Dunno how I'll ever be able to pay you guys back." Kiba seemed troubled.

"You can start by letting me crash in your room for a little while." Naruto rubbed the back of his neck sheepishly. "It's a little awkward for me to go back to mine right now."

"Geez, another fight with Sasuke?" the fanged male made a face. "I swear, you two fight more than my parents, and they've been married over twenty years!"

"Don't start, Kiba – You're the reason this whole damn mess started." The blonde replied grouchily, crossing his arms. Kiba looked to Shikamaru for support, whom merely shook his head in reply, steady brown eyes advising his roommate not to ask any further questions.

"Aight, whatever you need man." Kiba gave his friend a toothy grin at last. "How can I say no to the guy who just saved my ass?"

"I'm still waiting for my thank you." Shikamaru reminded pleasantly, his eyes arching upwards. Kiba sweat dropped before turning to face his roommate.

"Thanks, mate." He lightly knocked his fist against the other male's shoulder. "I'm seriously bunking with the best roommate _ever_."

"Your gratitude is accepted." Shikamaru replied, smirking slightly.

"By the way, Shikamaru." Kiba began with a glint in his eye. "I've got another test coming up soon…"

His reply was his bag thrown in his face, with Naruto and Shikamaru both glaring venomously at him with their hands on their hips.

"Never mind…" Kiba laughed nervously.

* * *

It took two days before Naruto returned to their room after being found out by the dorm leader, and when he did, things were more awkward than ever. The two boys went from trading three words a day to none, and though no words were said, passive aggressiveness hung in the air like toxic waste.

Their nonexistent relationship was the furthest thing from Sasuke's mind at the moment, however; he had no time for anything else but the enormity of the task he was now facing. Attacking an empire as large as Kabuto's was quickly proving to be nearly impossible with Sasuke's current resources, and his investigation into the shady male's background was turning up too many dead ends with too few leads.

It soon became blaringly apparent that even a simple task like gathering information would have to be fought for with tooth and nail. One after another, the personal investigators Sasuke hired contacted him, letting him know that they were dropping the job. It didn't take a genius to smell the foul stench of manipulation in the air – Sasuke had no doubt that his opponent was buying off his men one by one, converting them with higher offers.

As a result, he was left only knowing the name of his opponent and what he could salvage from the meager sources he had. Whispers of Akastuki's corruption were wide-spread but well concealed under the threat of such an influential corporation. The only information released to the public had already been cross-checked for incriminating evidence, leaving their record pristine.

Bullshit.

Sasuke needed to dig deeper or else none of his words would carry weight. The one hope he had was some information his most recent contact had delivered to him before slipping into obscurity, but he was yet to be able to use it to his benefit.

Akatsuki was a company that monopolized the import of various commodities into the country, and it was supported by an intricate web of well-known business men who were not to be trifled with. Because of this, Akatuski was able to extend its influence through a mixture of wealth, power, and fear, as Orochimaru and his son Kabuto stood on the front cover of every news article with smug grins plastered on their faces. Though it was never explicitly stated, many of its opposing companies mysteriously shut down one after another with the failing economy as an excuse, and Sasuke found it a sad demonstration of how power made people look away from the truth.

Without a case as solid as diamond, Sasuke couldn't even dream of putting a dent in their bulletproof defense. He had to build one, and quickly – he didn't know when Kabuto would begin scheming to have him removed, but he was sure it wouldn't be long.

Sasuke glanced down at the paper he was holding, his jaw clenching tightly as he reviewed the black ink printed on it one more time. The headline blared out the words: "Multi-billionaire Corporation Framed By Private Detective for Involvement in Human Trafficking and Prostitution; All Charges Dropped Due to Counterfeit Evidence" and it was dated eight years ago. The article was crammed full of the heaviest load of bullshit Sasuke had ever laid eyes on, ranging from rock solid alibis of all those accused to a confession from the detective stating that every and all evidence used had been forged. The article closed praising Akatsuki, commending them for their show of humanity as they allowed the shamed private detective to be released without charges, publicly announcing that he was to stand as a symbol that justice would always prevail.

This case was the starting point, but the next step was still out of reach. He needed records – cold, hard proof of what had really transpired, but Akatsuki had made it impossible to access such information.

Of course, there was _nothing_ suspicious about covering up a case that proved your innocence.

Sasuke wanted to bury his head in his hands and groan. He knew what the final picture looked like – now he just needed the pieces to form it.

He started as the door slammed open, and the sudden gust of air sent the paper flying from his hands onto the other side of the room. Sasuke looked up only to see the barely remorseful look of his roommate, who walked past him without a word of apology before leaning down to pick up what he had knocked from Sasuke's hands.

"Give that back." Sasuke demanded, trying to calm the adrenaline that was rushing through his veins.

The blonde rolled his eyes and motioned to do as he was told, but he froze mid-stride as the bold lettered headline caught his eye. Sasuke scowled deeply as Naruto's eyes widened considerably, cerulean orbs darkening as he scanned the paper that was now in his hands.

"What the fuck _is_ this?" he demanded, holding the paper in front of him.

"You wouldn't understand." Sasuke retorted impatiently, holding out his hand. "Don't stick your nose where it doesn't belong."

"The lack of zeros behind my name doesn't impair my ability to read words, thank you." The blonde stated calmly, his voice cold. "And I want to know what this is all about."

"Anybody with a brain wouldn't even need to ask." Sasuke snapped, standing up and snatching the paper out of the blonde's grasp. "It's something I found while doing a little research about our current class president – nothing more."

"But people don't honestly _believe _this, do they?" Naruto asked, his voice rising. "This paper is so full of shit that I could have probably written it myself!"

The blonde did have a way with words.

Still, his incessant harping was grinding on Sasuke's nerves, and he rubbed his temples gingerly after placing the sheet of paper safely back on his desk.

"What can you do when everybody on both sides agree on who's to blame?" Sasuke spoke wryly.

The blonde frowned. "There's no way this didn't attract attention – other people must have investigated as well." He pointed out, once again proving to be surprisingly sharp. If Sasuke didn't have such a strong desire to slap him behind the head for disrupting his focus, he might have considered commending him on his quick thinking.

"I'm sure they did, but there's no way to find out. There's not a single accessible record left other than this one." The raven-haired boy explained warily, wanting to end the conversation. He wasn't comfortable revealing thiws much to his roommate – the less the blonde knew, the safer both he and Sasuke would be.

"There has to be traces of it somewhere." The blonde pressed.

"Unless you're a class A hacker, you're not getting any more information about this matter." Sasuke snapped, suddenly exhausted. "Now would you mind giving me some privacy? I have enough stress to deal with without you adding your insufferable presence to the mix."

The blonde opened his mouth as if to say something but then closed it seconds afterwards.

"We've done a good job ignoring each other for the past few days, so let's keep it up shall we?" Sasuke ended, turning around so that Naruto knew the conversation was over. He heard the blonde grab something from his side of the room before exiting, making sure to slam the door even harder than before.

Once again, the sheet of paper went flying off the desk, and Sasuke rolled his eyes at his roommate's gesture of immaturity.

Honestly, he was surprised the blonde hadn't turned in a request to change roommates already. This was an option he had considered himself, but the chances of ending up with one of Kabuto's supporters was too high a risk. Although Naruto was useless, he was also harmless – Sasuke could deal with ignoring him, as long as he brought no harm to Sasuke's goals.

Once recovered from his roommate's rough interruption, Sasuke returned to examining the troublesome newspaper clip.

_The one crack in Kabuto's otherwise impregnable wall of wealth and corruption._

* * *

AlexandriteSky: As always, many thanks to all my readers! Please remember to leave a review on your way out; reviews are the universal cure to laziness!


	10. Chapter 10

AlexandriteSky: All of my reviewers are the best! Much love to** PuppetPrince, IWishIWasACheescake, Celestinasong, Cam, SpaceCaseWriter, smak978, guest, FireCrackingShrimpEater, and HiddenFaces** for your support!

Reviewer response:

Cam: Thank you so much for always supporting my stories! You're the best ! I'm also currently working on the next chapter for MRIY and I will do my best to keep both updated, so look forward to that ;) Thanks again!

* * *

"Kiba, can I steal your roommate for a sec?"

The brown-haired boy looked thoroughly confused as Naruto burst into his room, but this look quickly transformed into a scowl as the fanged boy crossed his arms indignantly. "What, my company's not good enough for you anymore?" he demanded crossly. "I'm getting that a lot lately! Nobody wants to hang out with Kiba."

Naruto glanced at Shikamaru for an explanation, who heaved a great sigh before lifting himself off his bed. "The pup's just cranky because Hinata turned down his offer to meet up this weekend." He explained to the blonde with a lazy wave of his hand.

"She totally blew me off." Kiba hung his head miserably. "Said she had to study for an exam or something! She could have at least come up with a better excuse…"

"Some people _did _come here to study, Kiba." Shikamaru pointed out, which Kiba blatantly ignored.

"I don't want to hear that from _you_, Shika." Kiba scowled. "All of your textbooks are still wrapped in plastic – you haven't even _touched _them since the day you bought them! Hell, why bother buying them if you're not even going to use them?"

"My parents insisted." The lazy-eyed male answered easily.

"When's the last time you've even been to class!?" his roommate demanded with his hands on his hips. "Every time I leave in the morning I see you lumped on your bed, and every time I come back you're still in the same damn position!"

"I go when I have homework due or an exam to take." Shikamaru yawned. "No point in going otherwise."

Kiba shook his head fervently. "There's no justice in this world." He complained. "Hinata doesn't want to hang out with me because she's 'studying', and you can't even gather the motivation to go to class! You wanna do me a favor and switch brains with Hinata for a weekend? Gah…so unfair…"

"Shall we step outside?" the lazy male in question addressed Naruto as Kiba's ranting trailed off into low grumbling. The blonde nodded with a soft chuckle, promising his canine friend that he'd return his roommate safe and sound. Kiba waved him away with disinterest, obviously still focused on Hinata's rejection.

Shikamaru closed the door behind him, and then motioned for Naruto to walk with him as he made his way down the hallway. "The walls are thin, so it's not really considered a private conversation if we converse in the hallway." He explained to Naruto, who grinned slightly and nodded in reply. Despite being painstakingly lazy, Shikamaru was never one to overlook small details – he was extremely precise in everything that he did, which Naruto both admired and envied at the same time.

"So…where to then?" he questioned, jamming his hands in his pocket.

"The lounge should be fine if it's empty." Shikamaru replied with a shrug. The two arrived in the room in question and found it to be conveniently vacant, thus encouraging them to enter. They settled down at a table that had two chairs, which Shikamaru quickly customized by grabbing cushions off of the neighboring sofa. There was an awkward silence that ensued afterwards, which Shikamaru finally broke as he leaned backwards with a sigh.

"So what's troubling you so much that the pup can't hear?" he asked with a lifting brow.

Naruto hesitated before replying. "Shikamaru…what's your financial situation?" he finally asked, cheeks reddening at having to ask such a personal and awkward question. It hadn't occurred to him until recently that he knew almost nothing about his friend's backgrounds. They were all so…_normal_ that Naruto had somehow fallen under the impression that they were like him, and it wasn't until recently that he realized he was wrong. He didn't know much about business and politics because they had never really interested him, so he was at a loss when trying to match his friends with a name.

If possible, Shikamaru's brow rose higher. For a moment, it looked as if the other male was going to question the reason behind the absurd question, and Naruto almost sighed with relief when he chose to answer instead.

"My family owns Nara Technology." The lazy male replied simply. "It's a multi-billionaire corporation that produces various electronics, such as silicon chips for computers and cell phones."

"Is that a big enough company to risk pissing off Kabuto?" Naruto questioned.

"Ah." Shikamaru's face dawned with understanding. "So _that's_ what this is about. I thought you decided to separate yourself from Sasuke's campaign?"

"I'm not doing this for Sasuke." Naruto frowned, looking around nervously before sliding the piece of paper he had stolen from Sasuke's desk earlier that day. "I found this by accident…and I just can't let it go. If this guy's really that sick, I can't stay in the background and watch Sasuke fight him alone. His smug ass needs to be punished."

Shikamaru looked over the news article with interest. "I heard about this scandal." He admitted, pushing the paper back to Naruto. "It was a huge deal when we were younger; my parents were outraged."

"Sasuke says that everything relating to the case was erased, so there're no traces of it remaining other than this article." Naruto explained. "He said that only a hacker would be able to access that kind of information. A _good_ hacker."

The other male remained silent, but Naruto could practically see the thoughts churning in Shikamaru's head as the male propped his elbow on top of the table and rested his chin on his hand.

"You're asking me to do it?" he asked at last.

"Not necessarily you, but I thought you'd at least be able to help me out." Naruto admitted. "I dunno…point me in the right direction or something. I'm what you call technology-retarded, so I have no clue where to start."

"You're asking for a big favor here, Naruto." Shikamaru warned with a frown. "Going against Kabuto is something that could affect the wellbeing of my entire family."

"Yeah, I figured." The blonde nodded. "I'm not asking you do anything you don't wanna do – if anything, it's nice to just vent to somebody about my problems."

The other male didn't reply, but he continued to gaze at the sheet of paper in front of Naruto with a thoughtful expression on his face. Just when the blonde thought his poor heart would explode from the suspense, Shikamaru finally broke the silence and spoke.

"I'll do it."

For a moment, Naruto thought he had misheard.

"Eh?" he asked, blinking stupidly.

"I'll do it." Shikamaru repeated firmly. "But for a price."

Naruto laughed. "If you're asking for money, you know I'm shit out." He reminded, though Shikamaru shook his head in disinterest.

"I don't want money from you, Naruto." The lazy male replied dryly. "Information will do just fine."

The blonde was starting to hate Shikamaru's roundabout way of talking – it tended to confuse the crap out of him most of the time.

"I'm not following." He admitted sheepishly.

"I'll help you with this, as long as you answer a few of my questions." Shikamaru elaborated lazily. "I don't like not knowing things, and you're an anomaly at this school in every way – you humor my curiosity, and I'll do this favor for you."

Naruto hesitated for a moment. It wasn't surprising to him that Shikamaru was so interested in his background – he was a unique character with a mental capacity that was on a completely different level than most people his age, and it was clear that his biggest weakness was his unquenchable inquisitiveness.

"I'm fine with it." He replied at last. "But are you sure about this? As you said earlier, it could affect your family business."

"If I'm careful enough, it won't even be a problem. And I've been bored recently anyways." Shikamaru dismissed his question with a snort. A spark that Naruto had never seen in the lazy male before now twinkled in his eyes, and it became glaringly obvious that the other male was enjoying the thought of a challenge.

"If you're absolutely certain…" the blonde was skeptical.

"It's a good chance to tests my skills." Shikamaru shrugged. "I haven't had a legitimate reason to challenge myself in _ages_."

"Alright." Naruto sighed begrudgingly. "If you say so."

"Then we have a deal." Shikamaru ended the conversation simply, reaching over and picking up the news article. "I'll make a copy of this for now and give it back to you later; when do you need the information by?"

"As soon as possible, I guess." Naruto replied, feeling a bit uncertain at having involved himself in something much bigger than he had ever thought he would be part of. The situation was progressing faster than he had ever imagined – the blonde had fully expected to leave the meeting with a name and a scolding, but instead he left with a promise of Shikamaru's personal involvement.

One thing was painfully clear, however – his dream of a peaceful school year and his promise to behave were slipping away like sand between his fingertips, and he didn't have the will power to close the gaps to preserve what was left.

The blonde smiled wryly to himself.

He would have a lot of apologies to make later.

* * *

AlexandriteSky: Sorry for the slightly shorter chapter (I'm trying to update this story as regularly as I can), I hope you all still enjoyed it! As always, please leave a review letting me know what you think!


	11. Chapter 11

AlexandriteSky: A big shout out to all who reviewed! It always means so much to me to see your feedback!

* * *

Sasuke looked up suspiciously as a knock sounded on the door the next day, onyx eyes narrowing with thoughts of his last encounter with the silver-haired student body president. After a moment of careful contemplation, Sasuke approached the door and opened it, only to be surprised by the sight of Shikamaru casually leaning against the wall with a manila envelope tucked into his grip.

"Uchiha." The lazy-eyed male greeted cordially.

"Naruto's not here right now." The raven-haired male replied testily, interpreting the package as something he was supposed to give to Naruto (Sasuke Uchiha was _nobody's_ messenger boy). He was familiar with Nara Technologies and was confused as to why a member of such a prestigious family would be friends with his loud-mouthed idiot of a roommate – normally, he refrained from involving himself with anybody that the blonde was associated with, out of fear that his idiocy was contagious. He had seen this possibility in Kiba, the male that Naruto seemed spent the majority of his time with. Sasuke had only had the pleasure of meeting the boy once when Kiba had come to their room to fetch the blonde, and the mere introduction had practically caused half of his brain cells to rot.

"These are for you too." The lazy male replied frankly. "I was asked for a favor."

With his brow raised, Sasuke begrudgingly took the manila envelope with poorly masked distrust. He had no idea what the envelope could possibly contain, just like he was uncertain of Shikamaru's intentions. His roommate's friend was impossible to read; Sasuke could decipher nothing from the male's detached expression as he yawned and then scratched the back of his neck.

Frowning, the raven-haired male gingerly opened the envelope in order to peek inside, and after deeming it to be safe he pulled out and investigated the top sheet of paper.

Sasuke paled as he skimmed its contents, onyx eyes widening to their limit as he quickly shoved the paper back inside and glanced at the other male.

"You should come in." he spoke hoarsely, throat gone dry from surprise.

Shikamaru complied wordlessly, shutting the door behind him. He waited as Sasuke carefully pulled out each sheet of paper, his face growing chalkier with disbelief with each one he read. The raven-haired male could hardly believe what he was seeing, and when he finally placed the enveloped down he was utterly speechless.

"Akatsuki's security is top notch." Shikamaru spoke at last as he faced Sasuke's incredulous stare. "That was all I could get without putting myself in danger."

Sasuke licked at chapped lips. "Amazing." He stated, his heart beating rapidly against his chest with all of the possibilities that had just been opened up to him. "Are you certain about these?"

"I've never been wrong before." Shikamaru shrugged. "Then again, I don't make it a habit to hack into multi-billionaire companies. It's up to you if you want to use this information or no – I did it because Naruto asked."

Sasuke swallowed before attempting to regain his composure. He had spent night after tortured night pondering how he would get information without attracting notice, and he had begun to doubt it was possible after his every attempt had been firmly rejected by Akatsuki's influence. It was unfathomable to him that the information would simply land in his lap like this, provided by one of Naruto's friends.

It also frustrated him that his blonde roommate was sneaking around his back – he had made it clear that Naruto had no place in this life and he thought the other male had understood, yet the blonde had blatantly ignored him and gotten himself involved.

But if he could have a company such as Nara Technologies supporting him…

"What do you want in return?" he asked, placing the envelope aside. "Something like this doesn't go unrewarded."

Shikamaru smiled thinly. "I have already settled my terms with Naruto." He replied with a disinterested shrug.

Sasuke was incredulous as he moved across the room.

_What kind of deal could have Naruto have made_?

"Would you consider helping me a second or third time?" the raven-haired boy asked, fully aware of the opportunities having a contact living only a few doors away would afford him. Nara Technologies was highly well known and was a leader power in electronic distribution. Sasuke's very own computer had a chip that was produced by Nara Technologies, and he knew they weren't an empire that could easily be taken down.

Much to his disappointment, the other boy didn't look particularly interested.

"I'm not really one for politics, Uchiha." Shikamaru explained with a shrug.

Sasuke gritted his teeth in disappointment.

"That said," the other male continued slowly. "If Naruto comes to me with another request, I won't necessarily decline. I like the guy – he's interesting. I'll alert you if I uncover anything else about this case."

The raven-haired boy nodded slightly. It was less than he had hoped, yet it was something – still, the lazy-appearing male had made himself painfully clear on one point. Sasuke had not overlooked the condition of Naruto's involvement, indicating that only the blonde would be able to convince him to act.

The blonde was acting as a gravitational force next to him, pulling people towards him like a bright star while Sasuke waited in its shadow.

"Uchiha." Shikamaru spoke, distracting him from his inner musings. "Naruto's a good kid."

Apparently this was the lazy-eyed male's farewell, for he dipped his head slightly before exiting the room, leaving Sasuke with his brow raised at the sudden departure. Shaking his head slightly, Sasuke dove into the file of papers with an enthusiasm he would have never betrayed in front of other people, and soon his bed was covered inch-to-inch with news article clippings and law suits. After reviewing the new material, Sasuke found that it was still not enough to form a solid case, but it was a giant leap in the right direction. He now had various leads that he could pursue, one of which would hopefully lead him to the evidence he needed.

The lock on the door shook, signifying Naruto's return. The blonde walked through the door carelessly, only to freeze as he saw the papers stretched out on Sasuke's bed.

"Ah." He coughed awkwardly. "Shikamaru's been here."

"Indeed." Sasuke replied dryly, placing the papers in his hand down before facing his roommate. "He told me you were behind all of this." He stated.

The blonde scratched behind his head nervously. "He might be telling the truth." He admitted wryly.

"You have no idea what you're getting yourself into." Sasuke warned, eyes narrowing. If Naruto wanted to put himself in danger, the raven-haired would no longer stop him – the act of doing so was taxing, and obviously futile.

"Don't get the wrong idea, Sasuke." The blonde replied, sitting down on his side of the room while throwing his bag at his desk. "I really did completely give up on you. Dealing with you meant giving up a peaceful student life, so I decided to forget the entire damn thing – but I didn't like what I read on that article that day, and I want to get that matter solved."

"Nonetheless, you're involving yourself." Sasuke stated. "They won't be so understanding as to forgive you for a minor involvement."

The blonde gazed at him for a moment with an unreadable expression, causing Sasuke to squirm slightly under its scrutinizing stare.

"You're actually a pretty good person, aren't you Sasuke?" the blonde laughed at last, returning to his usual nonchalant manner. "You keep pissing me off and throwing me out of your life, but you're doing it for my sake as much as your own. Still, you don't have to be such a huge asshole about it."

"Don't make me laugh." Sasuke sniffed. "I just don't want to deal with the responsibility of having to take care of you. Realize, Naruto – you're like a single rabbit shoved into a den of wolves. You won't last long enough to even hear yourself scream."

"Fox."

The correction made Sasuke's brow raise.

"Excuse me?"

"Fox." Naruto repeated, his face was wiped clean of all expression. "I'm no rabbit - I'm a fox."

"You're an idiot." Sasuke snapped, a little shaken by Naruto's sudden inexplicable change in demeanor. "Who thinks that deeply about something like that?"

The blonde didn't reply, making it painfully clear that the conversation was over as he headed over to his side of the room and lay down, back to his dark-haired roommate. There was no clearer body language than that to indicate that the blond no longer wanted to talk, leaving Sasuke to wonder what kind of insult he could have possibly delivered. He still had things he wanted to discuss with the blonde, such as his involvement in the case he was investigating, but he supposed it could wait until another day.

That night, the blonde had his first nightmare, and Sasuke lay awake in his bed as he listened to Naruto's whimpers. It was strange to see the seemingly invincible blonde in such a vulnerable state, and the sight was so alien to him that Sasuke could do nothing but feign ignorance.

Sleep was the one time of the day that an individual truly dropped their guard, and for people like Sasuke, that was the one time the demons he usually kept painstakingly locked away came back to taunt him. They came as constant reminders of everything he had lost, urging him with the bloody faces of his mother and father to continue striving towards his goal. Sasuke dreamed in shades of grey and red, and though he claimed to be older now, the memories terrified him as much as they had when he was still a young boy.

Another whimper escaped from the blonde, and out of the corner of his eye, Sasuke could see that he had curled into a fetal position, his body curling in on itself as if to protect itself from the rest of the world.

_What was he so scared of_?

The fear was unnatural.

Sasuke listened to the blonde a bit more before turning over onto his side, tucking earphones into his ears so that he could block out the blonde's muffled sobs. He didn't want to listen any longer because the sight was strangely painful, and though Sasuke knew that it would be a mercy to wake the blonde up, he didn't have the courage.

"_I'm a fox."_

Those words and the way they were said still haunted Sasuke's memory, especially because they seemed to have triggered something within the blonde to cause him to retreat far into his own shell. Sasuke had always believed that common people lived happier, purer lives than aristocrats; stripped of the hope and greed of wealth, they lived with each other warmly, devoid of corruption except for those planning on climbing higher.

However, Naruto was an exception, proven first by his presence at the school and then by the unpredictability of his actions. Sasuke had originally been determined to not waste a single thought on the blonde that he could spend on something else. Now, he was gradually becoming aware of the fact that there could be more to the blonde than he originally thought, and it was possibly worth a second glance.

* * *

_Naruto knew this dream._

_It was one he'd seen many times before. Cold metal cement and sturdy bars prevented his escape, surrounding him on all sides. There was no way out, no possible method of escape, and Naruto drew back in pure terror as a dark figure approached slowly._

"_**Welcome back."**_

_Naruto whimpered._

"_**I missed you."**_

_The hand that stretched out towards him seemed large enough to engulf the entire cage, and Naruto found himself pressed against the back of his confines as he watched the looming darkness draw nearer._

"_**Be a good fox, Kyuubi."**_

_Naruto screamed._

* * *

AlexandriteSky: Honestly, I didn't like this chapter too much, but I hope it was still alright! Thank you for reading, and please leave a review on your way out!


	12. Chapter 12

AlexandriteSky: As always, a giant thank you to all those who reviewed! You guys are the best!

* * *

"I feel like you guys are cheating on me behind my back." Kiba spoke crossly at lunch the next day. Naruto and Shikamaru glanced at him simultaneously with similar quizzical expressions, only to see the fanged boy glaring at both at them with a look of sullen betrayal.

"Did you fall off your bed last night and damage your brain or something? There are _so _many things wrong with what you just said." Naruto replied with a tired yawn.

"It's true! You're keeping me out of the loop!" Kiba insisted, crossing his arm indignantly. "You guys have been sneaking around without telling me what's going on – don't think I haven't noticed!"

The blonde straightened. "You're mental." He chuckled lightly.

"Don't give me any of that bullshit, Naruto." The fanged male accused with his eyes narrowed. "You were probably thinking that good ole Kiba wouldn't notice huh! Thought that I'd be too simple-minded to see that you guys were up to something, right?"

_Bulls-eye _Naruto thought with a sweat drop.

Kiba frowned. "Dunno why, but that look _really_ pissed me off just now." He accused.

Naruto's expression was wiped clean, leaving only a blank look behind. "I have no idea what you're talking about."

"We were planning a surprise." Shikamaru spoke up, and Naruto was forced to inwardly admire the way his friend could tell a blatant lie without changing a single feature of his face.

The anger in Kiba's face drained away, leaving no trace of it behind. "A surprise?" he asked excitedly, grinning ear-to-ear. "Is this about my birthday coming up? Ah man you guys shouldn't have!"

Naruto glanced at Shikamaru, who nodded wordlessly while Kiba beamed widely. _Nothing fazes this guy_ he thought, resisting the urge to shake his head.

He wasn't keeping Kiba in the dark because he thought the wolf boy was incapable of helping or keeping the matter a secret. He merely thought that Kiba was better off not worrying about small things like the student council election, which would normally have nothing to do with him. Kiba had made it painfully clear at many occasions that he wanted nothing to do with politics, and Naruto was merely respecting that decision.

"It's Kiba's birthday soon? When is it?" a new voice sounded, and the three boys turned around to see Sakura, Ino, and a blushing Hinata heading towards them.

"Hinata!" Kiba cheered, quick to move over to make room.

"His birthday's next week." Shikamaru answered, seeing that Kiba was too distracted by getting Hinata to sit next to him to reply to the initial question. Naruto made a mental note of this information, since he had never once heard of this until now.

Sakura slipped into the seat next to him. "Well, I suppose we should plan something, even if he is a doofus." She rolled her eyes, while Kiba finally succeeded in getting Hinata to sit next to him.

"I think Kiba would be perfectly happy with us just wrapping up Hinata and shoving them in a closet for a few hours." Naruto pointed out, receiving the agreement of all those around him.

"Unfortunately for him, Sakura and I will rip out his heart if he ever does anything to Hinata that she doesn't want." Ino spoke, and though she smiled innocently afterwards, Naruto felt a cold chill travel up his spine.

"Whoah now…no need to get graphic, ladies." Naruto chuckled nervously. "Kiba's not that kind of guy. Dumb, yes, but he's a good guy."

Naruto swore that Kiba's ear twitched, and the wolf boy returned his attention to his group of friends. "Did I just hear a compliment about me?" he crooned, leaning forward and placing his chin on his hands. "Please, do tell."

"He said you were dumb, Kiba." Ino offered, glancing down at her nails indifferently.

"Hey, fuck off Ino!" Kiba scowled.

"He said you were a good guy." Shikamaru spoke up, as always assuming the role of mediator.

"I knew it." Kiba grinned, reaching over and trapping Naruto in a rather painful headlock. "You're a great guy too, dude. It's why we get along so well!"

"S-Sure." Naruto choked out against the pressure wrapped around his neck. "J-Just let me go?"

"WHAT A BEAUTIFUL DISPLAY OF COMPANIONSHIP! I WHOLE-HEARTEDLY APPROVE." a sudden exclamation resonated loudly in the large dining hall. All the occupants in the room suddenly felt the looming feeling of imminent doom as a green-clad figure entered, and many students threw themselves under the tables as they waited for the menace to pass.

Kiba's grip slackened as he slowly backed away in horror as the new occupant confidently headed in their direction.

"Lee." Shikamaru groaned, his forehead hitting his arms. "Wake me up when he's gone."

"You can't abandon us, Shikamaru!" Naruto protested, only to find the other boy already snoring. He turned around with a large swallow, onto to find the biggest pair of eyes he'd ever seen only inches away from his own. Naruto swallowed again, distantly wondering how the other boy had managed to make his eyebrows so thick and his eyelashes so…separated and long.

"NARUTO, IT IS GREAT TO SEE YOU AGAIN IN THE PRIME TIME OF OUR YOUTHS." The boy bellowed. Naruto found no help from any of his friends, who all turned away with guilty expressions as they left him to face this opponent alone.

_Fuckers_.

"Hey Lee." He greeted weakly, turning back to the boy who was still as uncomfortably close as ever. "…What's up?"

"I SAW YOU CELEBRATING YOUR PASSIONATE FRIENDSHIP WITH KIBA, AND IT WAS SUCH A BEAUTIFUL DISPLAY THAT I HAD TO COME OVER AND JOIN YOU!" Lee replied, proudly patting him on the head.

"Oh…that's nice…thanks, dude." The blonde answered awkwardly, desperately searching for an escape. Out of the corner of his eye he saw Sasuke enter the room and take a seat at a table many rows down, and he was suddenly extremely jealous of his roommate's isolation as Lee continued to yell excitedly into his ear.

"HAVING FRIENDS IN THE BEST PART OF ONE'S YOUTH, NEVER FORGET THAT." Lee advised, slapping Naruto repeatedly on the back. "GOOD FRIENDS STAY WITH US FOR THE REST OF OUR LIVES, SUPPORTING US AND CHEERING US ON!"

"Yeah…" Naruto trailed off, his eyes narrowing as he noticed two students approach Sasuke. Their faces showed that they were there for business, and the blonde could feel the hair on his neck rising.

"That doesn't look good." Shikamaru spoke from the side.

_Shikamaru was awake. There was no way the situation would turn out well_. Naruto reasoned, deciding whether or not he should intervene. The two students began to speak to Sasuke in quiet tones, and from to the stony expression on his roommate's face, Naruto could tell his roommate was getting angry. He had seen Sasuke's poisonous glares too many times, most of them directed towards him, and he was able to identify them from a mile away.

"I-Isn't that your roommate, Naruto?" Hinata stuttered, sweet face disturbed with worry.

"Just what do those two guys want with Sasuke?" Sakura demanded angrily. She and Ino had developed rabid fan-girl crushes on the dark-haired male after laying their eyes on him for the first time, and though they rarely spoke to him, they fancied themselves madly in love with him.

"Those guys are Kabuto's bitches." Kiba spoke up with a scowl. "You can tell by their scent."

_Only you can do that_ was the collected thought of the entire group as Naruto kept his gaze focused on what was transpiring between his roommate and the other two students. Though it wasn't by smell, he could definitely identify what Kiba was talking about – both guys emitted an aura that announced their devious intentions.

Still, Naruto kept his arms pressed tightly at his sides.

He wasn't Sasuke's guard dog, after all.

"You will not go to your roommate's aid, Naruto?" Lee spoke quizzically, gazing at him.

_Oh god, the spandex-clad boy was staring at him with disappointment. There was nothing possibly more humiliating._

_Wait…did the guy just speak normally?_

"The guy likes his privacy." Naruto replied with a low chuckle, though his jaw clenched when he saw the two students draw closer to the raven-haired boy, blocking his roommate from his view.

"_Naruto_, _this is your last chance. The entire world has given up on you, but you have one final chance to prove them all wrong."_

"_**Don't **__fuck it up."_

"N-Naruto?" Hinata spoke, obviously troubled. Naruto didn't know what kind of expression he was sporting to cause her to be so startled, but he quickly recomposed himself before everybody else at the table could see. "Your face…" the timid girl continued, staring down at her lap. "It was…it was very dark for a moment. I apologize."

"Come on, man." Kiba joined in with a frown. "Even though you and the princess aren't too chummy right now, it's not like you to just leave him hanging."

"_Naruto, you almost __**killed **__the kid. Do you realize that he won't be able to leave the hospital for at least half a year!?"_

"It's not like that, guys." Naruto heard himself say, though a quiet humming had taken over his brain.

The murmurs of dissent grew louder around him, but he couldn't focus on what they were saying.

"_It's time you stopped thinking solely about yourself. I – it would be troubling for the people that care about you."_

"They're starting to get violent." Sakura's hands flew up to her mouth as one male grabbed Sasuke by the collar. "Naruto?" she asked, staring at him expectantly.

The blonde sat unmoving, his lips stretched into a thin line as he remained immobile.

"You can't risk a fight, can you?" Shikamaru spoke up, his voice quiet. It took a few seconds for his friends to hear him, but when they did, they finally settled down.

_Thank god for Shikamaru, the only source of sanity remaining in his life._

Naruto grit his teeth. "Yeah." He replied, his head dropping. "If I ever get…physical again, I'm asking for a lot of trouble."

Sitting here like this, unable to do anything…

_Didn't he get stronger, so he would never have to feel like this again?_

"WAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHH!"

Shocked, Naruto almost fell out of his chair as Lee bent over the table, tears streaming down the sides of his cheeks like tiny rivers. "NARUTO, I AM SORRY FOR DOUBTING YOU MY FRIEND." He sobbed hysterically, slamming his face repeatedly against the table.

"I-It's fine dude! Really!" Naruto weakly consoled him while trying to prevent him from splitting his head open.

"I WILL REPAY YOU WITH MY BODY!" the green-clad alien(?) exclaimed, a declaration so horrendous that Naruto almost ran away screaming at the thought.

"LEE FOR THE LOVE OF GOD, NO." he practically begged, while his friends all gagged behind him. Despite all of the commotion his friends and he were causing, the two aggressors continued to harass Sasuke as if nobody else was in the room. They man-handled the raven-haired male fearlessly, regardless of all of the attention that they had attracted.

_So this is how far Kabuto's influence as grown._ Naruto noted silently. _His underlings don't even have to hide underground when doing their dirty deeds. The amount of confidence they have in being untouchable is astounding. _

"Lee, you do kickboxing right?" he spoke at last. The first time he had met Lee was at the gym – he had been doing some personal training, thinking that he was alone, only to be molested (mentally) by one of the scariest human beings alive.

"You want me to fight in your place?" Lee replied, once again proving that he was only purposing yelling his words at all other times. "Say no more, Naruto."

"Wait, shouldn't we think about this some more?" Sakura spoke up, only to be completely ignored as Lee went charging at the other table.

"HALT!" the group of friends heard him yell, each of them cringing in embarrassment. "UNHAND HIM, HE IS THE PRECIOUS ROOMMATE OF A PRECIOUS FRIEND!"

"I think he's got a boner for you." Kiba whispered to Naruto, who groaned miserably and buried his face into his hands.

"Don't. Say. Another. Word." He hissed back.

There were a few thuds in the background, and before Naruto even had time to look back up, the two students had been neatly placed against the wall, completely out cold. The blonde whistled in appreciation, secretly marveling at Lee's skill.

Apparently being the scariest mother-fucker on earth wasn't the spandex-loving male's only talent.

A chill ran down his back, and Naruto had a slight idea of where it was coming from before he bothered to find the source. As expected, Sasuke was glaring murderously at him from the other table, and Naruto knew he was going to get an earful about it later.

Knowing the result would be the same no matter what he did, Naruto simply waved at his roommate casually before returning to his meal with his friends.

If he was going to be chewed out regardless, he might as well do so with a full stomach.

* * *

"I did not require your assistance."

"Technically, you received Lee's assistance – I didn't lift a finger. Oh I have an idea, why don't we go yell at Lee instead?" Naruto suggested cheekily only to sweat-drop as Sasuke's glare intensified.

"Does anything _intelligent_ ever leave your mouth?" the raven-haired male snapped. "Or does it only know how to vomit bullshit?"

"My mouth knows how to do many things. It knows how to eat, speak, and I'm told it's exceptionally skilled as well…if you catch my drift." The blonde winked.

Sasuke drew back with disgust.

"You're an idiot." He deadpanned. "Don't think I don't see you trying to avoid the topic. You need to stop interfering with my own personal matters, Naruto."

"That's not what you said when I got you more information on that case you've been working on." Naruto countered smartly, fingers tapping against the closed folder on Sasuke's desk.

"That was different. You acted on your own accord, and I like to think that you did so discretely." Sasuke snatched the binder away from the blonde with irritation. He sternly pointed at the tape on the ground that marked the division of their room, pointing out that Naruto had invaded his personal space. "This time, you acted out in the open, and even hurt some of Kabuto's lackeys."

Naruto stomped back to his side of the room with a cross look.

"You're being unreasonable-"

"And _you're_ being an imbecile. Your absent-mindedness is getting others involved as well. Kabuto will not appreciate what your green friend did to his men – I do not know how deeply his retribution will run."

Naruto thought back to his spandex-sporting friend and a shiver ran down his spine as fuzzy, caterpillar-like brows invaded his thoughts. "I think Lee will be fine." He shook his head. "That dude is by far the scariest guy I have ever been acquainted with. I swear his cheerfulness is enough to give a man cancer."

"I'm sure his cheerfulness will be useful when Kabuto targets his family." Sasuke retorted coldly.

"You could just say thank you, you know." Naruto replied hotly. "Even though you've hardly been civil, my friends were still worried about you."

"Their concern was unneeded."

"Ungrateful bastard." The blonde spat out hatefully. "I thought you said you needed allies. Yet from what I've seen, you've only managed to shove away everybody that has tried to help you."

"I need _capable_ allies." Sasuke retorted. "Not a ragtag team of optimistic fools who are acting out of sympathy."

Naruto seethed. "Look." He grounded. "Just 'cos you think I'm a loser doesn't mean you can go ahead and look down on all of my friends as well. Shikamaru-"

"Nara is an exception." Sasuke cut in neatly. "I do not know why he chooses to surround himself in company such as yours."

"You're an asshole." Naruto grabbed his bag from his chair and slung it over his shoulder. "Forget it. I'm out of here."

On his way out the blonde's cell phone began to ring, which Naruto retrieved impatiently out of anger.

"Yes?"

Though his movements were unflinching, Sasuke did not miss the way the blonde's eyes darted over to him before refocusing ahead of him as he made his way to the door.

"Hold on, let me get to a better place." Naruto muttered before the door slammed behind him, leaving Sasuke to brood at his desk as he listened to the sound of his roommate's fading footsteps.

Even after two months, he still knew next to nothing about the whiskered enigma. Naruto never mentioned his family, though this was most likely due to Sasuke's insults to their background. As much as he liked to talk, Naruto tended to stick with safe banter and easy conversation, and in the end he said the least of them all.

* * *

AlexandriteSky: A longer chapter than usual! Please leave a review on your way out


	13. Chapter 13

AlexandriteSky: Thank you to all those reviewed, you guys are truly my source of motivation!

* * *

"How are things going?"

"Just peachy." Naruto replied grouchily, making his way past the lounge and towards the dorm's exit. "I'm surrounded by butterflies and rainbows every day."

"…what's got your panties twisted into a knot?"

"Nothing significant." The blonde sighed, kicking an empty beer can away from him as if it was the source of all his troubles. "You just caught me at a bad time, is all."

The speaker on the other end of the phone elapsed into silence.

"But you're behaving?"

Naruto clicked his tongue. "I've been as gentle as a kitten."

"Those things can still bite, you know."

"I know." Naruto grinned. He could practically see the speaker rolling his eyes as he shifted the phone, flooding the line with static.

"Just keep your head down, Naruto. You're there to study – nothing else. Do you understand?"

The blonde wisely chose to refrain from delving into his most recent activities. He had a feeling that they didn't exactly follow the guidelines of what the speaker considered "keeping his head down".

"Yup. We're solid." He chirped instead.

"Don't forget how hard she's trying."

Naruto grit his teeth. "Don't worry. You don't have to remind me." he ground out, stuffing one hand into his pocket.

"You visit her often?"

"Once a week." The blonde rolled his eyes. "As promised."

The speaker sighed. "Okay. As long as you keep your word."

"Yeah."

"…so how have classes been?"

"The ones that I've actually gone to have been excellent." Naruto grinned, laughing when the speaker exhaled loudly.

"Well, looks like you're getting used to college life at least. Did you make friends?"

"Yeah, I got to know a group of great people." The blonde answered.

"I'm happy for you, kid. Just don't fuck this up."

The speaker hung up abruptly, leaving Naruto with a frown on his face.

"I think the world will end if I'm ever _not_ in trouble." The blonde sighed to nobody in particular as he returned his phone to his pocket.

* * *

The next time Naruto spoke to Sasuke was a week later as he was getting dressed for a night out.

"We're raging at Hinata's place for Kiba's 20th." The blonde said nonchalantly, pulling on a tight blue shirt that hugged his lean form snugly. "You wanna come along?"

As shocked as he was that the blonde was speaking to him so casually after their most recent argument, Sasuke kept his face carefully wiped blank as he looked up from the stack of papers on his desk. His run for student council was making his life hell, adding more work to the extensive workload he had already received from the rest of his classes.

Like he did often, Naruto expressed abnormal tenacity as he waited for the answer he surely knew would come. After living with the blonde for months with no lack of confrontation in between, Sasuke was finally beginning to understand his roommate's seemingly lackadaisical personality; Naruto was quick to anger, but equally quick to forgive – if you gave him enough time, his anger would deflate like defective balloon and he would act as if nothing had happened.

The blonde neither needed nor appreciated apologies; it was actions that he turned to when evaluating people, and Sasuke found this trait complimentary to his own personality despite the stark contrast of wills that existed between them. Their personalities clashed horribly, but the resulting chaos was something less explosive and more subtle in its nuances. They were like two chemicals forced to react without regard for the consequences, creating something new that had yet to be explored.

"Why would I _ever_ want to go with you guys?" the raven-haired male snorted.

Naruto was unperturbed by Sasuke's attitude, obviously having expecting it. "You look like you could use a breath of fresh air. I don't think I've seen you leave your desk in years." He answered, checking his reflection in the mirror. Begrudgingly, Sasuke was forced to admit that his roommate could actually be striking when he put in the effort – usually the blonde sauntered around looking as though he had just rolled out of bed, with tussled hair and wrinkled clothes.

"Some of us actually have things to do." Sasuke retorted, ripping his gaze away. Naruto had done something different to his hair as well; instead of its usual haphazard style he now tamed it with gel, causing it to swoop across his face and accentuating radiant sapphire.

_Glassy eyes stared up at him, abused pink lips parted in a breathless haze_

The raven-haired male wondered if he _had_ been sitting at his desk for too long. His mind was obviously deteriorating.

Not only was Naruto loud and abrasive, but he was also indubitably and unquestionably _male_.

There was no possible way Sasuke could find him attractive.

"Also, there's gonna be booze and chicks." The blonde continued, tugging on the collar of his shirt before standing back with a satisfied look. "Even if you don't like us, you'll have everything you need to have a good time."

Sasuke's nose scrunched in distaste. The promise of alcohol was certainly welcoming, but it was balanced by the strenuous labor of having to deal with screeching fan girls.

"I don't enjoy being fawned over." He muttered. "Being in public is…tiring. Everybody stares at you like you're some exhibit. Like you're on display."

Naruto rolled his eyes. "Of course, you're the only one who can ever complain about being _too_ popular." He stated with annoyance while flippantly applying two quick spurts of cologne.

After a moment of silence, Sasuke looked up to find Naruto peering at him thoughtfully from across the room.

"I can see how it'd be annoying though." The blonde mused. "From what I know, tonight's a more private affair – Kiba didn't want to see himself plastered on the front cover of tomorrow's news. You should be fine, and I'm pretty good at chasing people away if I need to." He laughed. "I can be your knight, defending you from the evil clutches of adoring fans."

Sasuke scowled at the blonde's stupidity.

"Idiot." He grunted.

Naruto shrugged. "I thought it wouldn't hurt to ask. Even assholes deserve to have a bit of fun from time to time. I'm starting to think that you having some kind of forbidden affair with that table." He replied, checking his wallet. "Fuck. I'm as broke as a hobo."

Normally, Sasuke would have never even entertained the possibility of taking up Naruto's offer, but the fact that he was considering it was proof enough that he needed a break. His brain could definitely use some rest, and there was certainly nothing more effective than the numbing effects of alcohol.

"Well, catch you later-"

"I'll go."

The blonde's head shot up in surprise. "Repeat that?"

"I said I'll go." Sasuke deadpanned.

Naruto seemed to need a minute to collect himself, which was fine with Sasuke as he languidly rose from his seat and stretched. It took him only a few minutes to slip into more suitable attire and fix his hair – the raven-haired male knew that he didn't need to do much to make himself look good, a talent that was both a blessing and a curse. By the time he was ready, Sasuke was donned in crisp, low-cut jeans and a fitted v-neck which dipped tastefully below his collarbone. Naruto watched him in shocked silence, his mouth opening and closing like a fish underwater.

"Wow." The blonde breathed at last, breaking out of his entranced state. "You are one _sharp_ looking bastard. I'm going to have my work cut out for me tonight."

Sasuke ignored the compliment, along with the responding surge of heat. The blonde's outspoken personality was much franker than what he was used to, and the raven-haired male was adamant in making sure he didn't misunderstand Naruto's friendliness.

Besides, Sasuke was _not_ about to tell the blonde that he thought the blonde was looking…acceptable as well.

"Well then." Naruto winked, holding the door open. "After you."

"Hn." Sasuke sounded, glancing at himself one more time before leaving.

* * *

"Sorry man, but I'm just going to come out and say it…your birthday present _sucks_." Kiba complained, taking a swig of from the 40oz in his hand. Together, he and Naruto watched as girls swarmed around the raven-haired male, and even some of their friends were caught up in the mix. Sakura and Ino had positioned themselves at the front of the mob and were busy fluttering their eyelashes and pushing out their chests, much to Sasuke's discomfort and the other males' envy. The only thing that prevented Kiba from kicking him out was the fact that Hinata alone was unaffected, which made him tolerant of the raven-haired male's complete dominance over the females in the room.

"I also got you that new playstation game you wanted." Naruto pointed out.

Kiba placed one hand on his shoulder. "You have redeemed yourself, my friend. I'm sorry for having ever doubted you."

The blonde chuckled, lifting his own beer to his lips. "How could you have ever doubted me? Plus, I never expected Sasuke to actually _agree_. I'm as shocked as you are to see him here." He commented, laughing as he saw Choji draw king's cup for the second time in a row. The heavier male guzzled down the concoction like a champion, though his face quickly became green a moment afterwards.

"Who the fuck put a cup of _fireball _in there!?" was all Choji could manage to scream before running out of the room with clear emergency, leaving his friends howling in his wake.

"You're evil, dude." Kiba told Shino, who merely shrugged in reply as he took a swig of his whiskey.

"What? It's good." The insect-lover answered calmly. "Tastes like candy."

"It's like getting slapped in the face with a cinnamon stick." Kiba retorted. "Or getting mauled by a truck full of cinnamon." He continued. "Or-"

"Or getting thrown up on by the cinnamon monster." Naruto added helpfully.

"Yeah!" Kiba agreed whole heartedly. "Now give me a swig of that mother fucker."

"It's _your _birthday. Just take what you want." Shino answered with boredom before handing over his bottle. Kiba took a gulp gleefully before giving a long exhale.

"Mmmm. It's like being-"

"If you say one more simile I'm restricting your access to my drink for the rest of the night, birthday or not." The sunglasses wearing male warned (why he wore he sunglasses indoors, at night, was something nobody had quite worked up the courage to ask yet).

Naruto was laughing heartily when his senses tingled, and he looked across the room to see Sasuke glaring at him venomously. The message couldn't have been any clearer: _Get me __**away**__ from these things._

The blonde scratched the back of his head.

_Well, he did say he would take care of the bastard._

"Kiba, we're up next for beer pong right?" he asked.

"Fuck yeah. Prepare to be demolished." His friend answered with a toothy grin.

"Aight. Let me go grab my partner." Naruto grinned before crossing the room to where Sasuke waited to be rescued. "Sorry girls, but I'm going to need my roommate back." The blonde spoke with an easy smile as he pushed his way through the crowd. "I'm afraid we have a date at the beer pong table."

His announcement was met with a chorus of disappointed 'awww's, and Sakura and Ino both shot him murderous glares as Naruto made it to his destination and wrapped one arm around Sasuke's shoulder.

"Can't it wait?" Sakura asked, hands on her hips. "We were getting to know each other!"

"Sorry. We can't leave the birthday boy waiting." The blonde replied, releasing Sasuke with a squeeze as the taller male glared at the offending appendage. "Meanwhile, maybe you girls can find something else to do with the other hundred guys at this party?"

"Hmph. Like we'd want to interact with losers who aren't Sasuke." Ino sniffed, sticking her nose in the air. "Though _you're_ looking pretty good tonight, Naruto." The blonde added after observing her friend closer. "Didn't know you cleaned up so well."

"Why thank you, doll. You're looking pretty good yourself" Naruto laughed good-naturedly, playfully flicking Ino's nose. "You and Sakura always manage to look pretty as a peach."

"Such a charmer." Sakura giggled while Ino blushed. "Hurry up and finish stealing our fun away. We'll come to collect him later."

Naruto wished he could have laughed at the way Sasuke's face grew deathly pale, but he knew this wasn't the right occasion to voice his amusement. Instead, he simply led his roommate away from the deathtrap of giggling females.

"This was not a good idea."

"Oh come on." Naruto frowned. "It couldn't have been _that_ bad being the object of everybody's affections."

"It's stifling."

The blonde gave his roommate a side-ways glance, taking in the raven-haired man's disheveled state and furrowed brows. True to his word, Sasuke looked as though he was having a miserable time – Naruto suddenly felt guilty about not rescuing him sooner.

"Well, we'll make all the bad things go away with a good game of beer pong." He stated assertively. "And I'll stick by your side for the rest of the night, kay?"

Sasuke didn't meet his gaze.

"…Or we can get you back early." The blonde finished lamely. He was definitely starting to feel the alcohol digesting in his system – for a moment he had forgotten the fact that Sasuke hated him.

"I've never played it before."

Naruto's brow rose. "Excuse me?"

"I've never played beer pong before." Sasuke ground out, coming as close to sulking as Naruto suspected the raven-haired male would ever allow himself to.

Naruto stared at him blankly before a large grin broke out on his face.

"Well then. You won't be able to say _that_ anymore after tonight."

* * *

"Naruto, you're a filthy, dirty liar."

"Whoah man. What's with the hostility?" Naruto's face shone with mirth as he did a celebratory jig which was utterly infuriating.

"You told me it was his first time playing!" Kiba scowled, motioning wildly towards the raven-haired male who was coolly fingering the ball in his hands.

"It is!" the blonde retorted, turning to his partner. "Right?"

"Hn." Sasuke affirmed, his eyes narrowing before another perfectly arched throw landed his ball in one of the two cups remaining.

"No way." Kiba accused. "You guys are fucking with me. There's no way a newbie can be _this _good."

"Perhaps you're just bad?" Sasuke suggested, causing his roommate to erupt into a fit of laughter behind him, which was hastily masked as a cough when his red-fanged friend turned indignant eyes on him.

"Well aren't _you_ guys chummy all of a sudden." The wolf-like male grumbled.

"It's normal to bond when making other people suffer." Naruto shrugged. "Right Sasuke?"

The raven-haired male glanced at the blonde and offered a noncommittal shrug. He hated to admit it, but now that he was away from the crowd of screeching harpies he was actually…entertained. At first he had been wary about playing and looking ridiculous, but upon realizing that the game could be mastered by simply calculating the correct trajectory and having precise motor control, it only took minutes before him and Naruto began dominating the round.

Spending time with Naruto and his friends was strangely peaceful, despite the flurry of noise and excitement swirling around him. Sasuke couldn't remember the last time he had been able to let loose, especially with people his age; he became the center of attention no matter where he went, and when people weren't coddling him they were usually avoiding him instead.

"_Being with him is so uncomfortable. I never know what to say! Like, I always have to be really careful not to bring up…you know."_

"_Next time, let's just not invite him…he really knows how to kill the mood."_

"_What a buzz kill! He's always so gloomy too – I wanted to be nice to him because of what happened but I just don't think it's worth all the awkwardness."_

Here, it seemed as though nobody particularly thought anything special of him – they were either too drunk or too simple minded to care, but Sasuke found himself greatly amused as Kiba grew more and more dramatic after each successful shot. The wolf-like male did not have any qualms about yelling at him like any other person, an occurrence that Sasuke did not experience often.

"WHOOOOOOOO! LAST CUP!" Naruto cheered loudly as Kiba cursed up a storm, glaring venomously at the ball that had effortlessly soared into the remaining cup. The blonde turned to Sasuke with a smile so bright it made the raven-haired male want to shade his eyes. "We make a surprisingly good team!" Naruto nodded with satisfaction, holding up a fist.

Sasuke eyed it for a moment, hesitating.

"Don't you _dare _leave my ass hanging." Naruto scowled, raising his fist higher for emphasis. With a sigh Sasuke knocked his fist against the blonde's, rolling his eyes at how the blonde's eyes illuminated with triumph.

"Ummm…excuse me? Not to interrupt your love fest, but we still have redemption?" Kiba scowled from across the table.

"I think Shikamaru begs to differ." The blonde replied glibly, motioning towards the male in question who was currently wandering away from the table with a tired expression on his face.

"Shikamaruuuuuu." Kiba whined, looking abandoned. "Don't just give up you lazy prick!"

"Sorry bro." Naruto laughed. "Looks like we win the roommate war."

"Nooooooo." Kiba sniffed, pounding on the table. "I never lose at beer pong! Never!"

Naruto eyed the sulking birthday boy for a moment. "Be back." He said suddenly before dragging Sasuke away from the table by the wrist. The raven-haired male started at being touched so suddenly but was at a loss of what to do, resulting in him stumbling after the blonde as Naruto led him across the room.

"Where are we going?" he demanded.

Usually, Sasuke was repulsed by being touched by others, but the alcohol that was starting to disperse through his bloodstream left him comfortably buzzed and he found himself tolerant of the blonde's grip.

"Getting wolf-boy a consolation prize." Was the only response he received to his earlier inquiry. Moments later Naruto found what he was looking for, and he darted forward leaving Sasuke's skin strangely cold. "Hinata!" the blonde male called triumphantly.

Hinata blushed bright red as she saw Naruto speeding towards her. Sasuke didn't miss the way she instinctively smoothed her short dress and tucked a strand of hair behind one ear as the blonde approached, and their significance did not escape him either.

_She liked him._

Sasuke was more surprised by the wave of irritation that followed the realization.

"N-Naruto." She greeted shyly. "Y-you looked very h-h-handsome."

_Annoying._

"You're too sweet, Hinata." Naruto replied fondly, pecking the girl on the forehead. The dark-haired girl flushed to the very tips of her toes, but the blonde remained utterly ignorant as he took a step back. "By the way, thanks a bunch for letting us throw this at your place. The dorms aren't very friendly towards big gatherings of people consuming unhealthy amounts of alcohol." He thanked, wrapping one arm around her shoulder.

"I-It's my pleasure." The girl stuttered, blushing deeply. "I-I'm glad that I could help make Kiba's birthday special."

The blonde grinned. "Speaking of which…" he began, pulling out a ping pong from his pocket that Sasuke had missed seeing him snatch from the table earlier. "Do you mind handing this back to him? I accidentally stole it after the game ended and I really gotta take a piss."

"O-of course!" the girl stammered, timidly taking the ball and obediently doing as she was told.

Naruto stared after her, looking as if he was greatly enjoying himself.

"Kiba was pretty much ecstatic when he found out that we were raging at Hinata's place. If the dude had a tail, it would have been wagging like crazy." He explained as he headed upstairs in the direction of the bathroom, Sasuke following close behind. "I don't actually have to pee by the way – just to make that clear."

"I had no idea." Sasuke replied sarcastically. "I thought we were going to celebrate our win by going up and crossing streams."

"…" Naruto looked surprised before erupting into a fit of laughter. "You can be pretty funny when you try, huh bastard?"

"I don't try." Sasuke deadpanned.

"Then you, my friend, have a gift." The blonde replied with a flippant motion of his hand. Sasuke observed his roommate openly, gazing at Naruto's profile as the blonde confidently looked himself over in the mirror.

"You want a picture?" Naruto drawled, eyes meeting his in the mirror's reflection. "It'll last longer."

Sasuke was unperturbed at being caught for his blatant staring. "I was just surprised that an idiot like you can actually look good when he tries." He snorted. Shocked, Naruto gazed at him for a moment before breaking into a brilliant smile.

The raven-haired male found that he _liked_ being the target of that smile.

"Bastard." The blonde chuckled. "Although I have to admit, all these compliments are bumming me out a bit too. Do I usually look _that_ bad?"

Sasuke didn't grace the question with a reply, instead choosing to turn away with a snort.

"Hey!" Naruto protested before sighing. "Well, I got one compliment out of you – that's one more than I ever expected to have."

The raven-haired male rolled his eyes. "Dumbass."

"Seems like the clock struck midnight and the spells over since you're back to being a bastard." The blonde huffed. "Ah well. It was nice while it lasted."

"I wouldn't get used to it." Sasuke reminded.

"Mhmmmm." Naruto hummed before holding out a hand. "Shall we return to the ball, princess?"

The blonde sweat dropped as he became the target of a chilly glare and lowered his arm. Sasuke turned and exited the room without another word, leaving Naruto to run after him while whining about being left behind.

"Sasukeeeee wait for me!"

* * *

"…So how the fuck did you end up taking care of his trashed ass?" Kiba asked with amusement several hours later as Sasuke lugged the wasted blonde behind him back to the dorms. "Fuck, I'm wasted as fuck, but I can still walk on my own goddamn legs at least."

Kiba's claim was questionable, however, as he swayed dramatically from left and right, complimenting his slurred speech and limited vocabulary.

"I'm the birthday boy! I should be puking my guts out while you guys play rock-paper-scissors to decide who gets to drag me home, not him! Goddammit…fucking gravel…making it so hard to walk…" the wolf-lover slurred, words failing him as he stumbled a bit before collecting himself.

"You're just in a bad mood because you and Hinata didn't get any farther tonight like you had hoped." Shikamaru offered from behind. Of all of them, the lazy-eyed male was possibly the most sober, as he had personally taken up the responsibility of ensuring that they all got home safely. Shikamaru's statement was met with only a heavy nod as Kiba burped, his friend's previous statement lost upon him.

Sasuke rolled his eyes before shifting the blonde's weight so that he was easier to carry. He had learned about and personally witnessed Kiba's infatuation with the pale-eyed heiress during the night, and the blonde had been insistent on including him in every conversation despite Sasuke's obvious lack of interest.

What a waste of time.

"'Suke." Naruto stirred. "…we home yet?"

"No. We're not." Sasuke replied crossly. "But we'd be there a lot sooner if you hadn't drunk yourself stupid."

"Oh." The blonde's voice was small. "I'm sorry."

"Seriously." The raven-haired male huffed. "And earlier you were even saying that _you'd_ take care of _me._"

"Awwww don't be that way. I'll give you anober kiss, okies?" Naruto slurred out.

Sasuke stiffened, his eyes instantly shooting over to where Shikamaru and Kiba were walking. The latter continued to hobble forward, obviously too inebriated to hear what the blonde had just said while the other male simply chose to keep walking with his gaze focused in front of him. Sasuke shot Shikamaru another glance before turning his attention back to his roommate, whose cheek now rested snugly against the crook of Sasuke's neck and shoulders.

"Idiot." Sasuke hissed quietly. "Keep your drunk mouth shut."

"I'm not drunk!" the blonde hiccupped. "I'm not drunk." He repeated, turning his head to nip at Sasuke's ear.

The raven-haired male was livid. "I'm going to drop you on your sorry ass." He warned, only to see that Naruto had fallen back into unconsciousness. Sasuke clicked his tongue with annoyance and turned to see an amused gaze.

"He usually handles his liquor a lot better." Shikamaru mused. "Guess he really let himself go this time."

Sasuke grit his teeth. "What luck."

"It probably means he trusts you." The lazy male responded.

The raven-haired male didn't reply, but his hold on the blonde tightened.

* * *

AleandriteSky: Ah, college. Please leave a review letting me know what you think, and more fun shall be on its way!


End file.
